Three Patients Die After Technical Fault Leads To Sudden Drop In Oxygen Supply At Jalandhar Hospital

A sudden drop in oxygen pressure at the Trauma Ward of the Civil Hospital in Jalandhar on Sunday allegedly led to the deaths of three patients, triggering panic in the administration and prompting an inquiry. The incident occurred around 8 PM, reportedly due to a technical fault during an oxygen supply changeover.

Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh visited the hospital following the incident, confirmed that a detailed inquiry will be conducted. 

Balbir Singh said, "These patients were in the ICU and in a critical situation... The oxygen supply was briefly cut off, but it was switched back on immediately... Oxygen supply is complete. There was just a brief pressure drop... Maybe for 1-2 minutes... This incident happened around 8 pm... The deaths did not happen at once; they happened one after the other, within 10-15 minutes of each other... One had consolidation in the lungs, the other was a patient of multiple organ failure, and the third was a drug addict..." 

Punjab Health Minister Assures Proper Investigation

Punjab Health Minister assured proper investigation in the matter and added, “A team of doctors from Chandigarh will come here to investigate... We will conduct a detailed inquiry, as many people are involved in this matter... A report will be issued in 48 hours...”

Civil Surgeon and Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr. Vinay Kumar stated that a brief technical fault led to the oxygen supply reduction and added, "There was a technical fault due to which oxygen supply reduced a bit. Backup cylinders were started immediately. The technical fault was also rectified immediately... All this happened within five to ten minutes... The three patients who died were in a serious condition, and their deaths occurred due to different reasons after this matter...," he said.

Deputy Commissioner Dr. Himanshu Aggarwal, who was also present at the scene, confirmed that an inquiry committee has been constituted.

He said, “The Civil Surgeon informed that three deaths have occurred here. An investigation committee has been formed. The exact cause will be known from the committee's report. We are trying to determine the actual cause and ensure such an incident does not happen again. If the deaths occurred due to someone's fault, action will be taken against them.”