Rajasthan shocker: 2 infants kept in faulty warmer die, defective heat sensor leads to tragedy

Temperature sensor's malfunction in a warmer led to the deaths of a 11-day old girl and a 4-day old boy who were being stabilised. District administration has set up a probe committee including technical experts to go into the incident and sought a report from the electricity department regarding the power fluctuation.

Beawar: In a shocking incident, two infants died due to burn injuries inside a faulty warmer at the Government Amrit Kaur Hospital Beawar in Rajasthan's Ajmer on Monday night. Preliminary investigations suggest the warmer's temperature sensor stopped working when it was run on a backup generator due to a power fluctuation.

Police who have registered a case stepped up the protection for the hospital as a precaution. "There were at least three to four power fluctuations between 7 - 8 pm. This could have led to the temperature sensor malfunction. The backup generator was used to power up the warmers in the ICU. Nurses present in the ICU sensed something amiss and checked the babies about 20 minutes later only to find them dead," said a police official privy to the investigation.

State Commission for Protection of Child Rights chairperson Sangeeta Beniwal who learnt about the mishap visited the hospital and took stock of the situation. She also met with the bereaved parents and consoled them. District Chief Medical Officer, Dr KK Soni said that prima facie the incident is believed to have happened after overheating of the warmer due to “technical reasons”. He said that an inquiry committee has been formed on the matter. Technical experts have also been included in the investigation team, he added.

Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Rahul Jain said that as soon as he got the information about the incident, he reached the hospital and talked to the doctors. Staff present at duty tried to save the newborns. It is unfortunate, it was too late already, he said. The deceased were identified as the 11-day old daughter of Om Prakash, a resident of Badia, Bagta and a 4-day old son of Surendra of Rampura in Kharwa. The newborns were kept in 'warmer number 11' to be stabilised when the mishap occurred.

One of the bereaved parents Om Prakash said his daughter prematurely born on April 7 was fine till late Monday evening. "Suddenly the hospital staff told us that the girl had died," he said. Surendra, the other bereaved father, said that his son born on April 14 had trouble breathing but his situation had improved and the mother had started breastfeeding him two days ago.

Besides the bereaved couples, the families of other newborn babies are also horrified by the incident. The family members also expressed their anger at the hospital authorities. Considering the sensitivity of the matter, the police administration increased the security arrangements outside the hospital. Both the families have been assured a solatium and the quantum of the same is yet to be decided.

This is the second incident in one and a half years in the women's wing of Government Amrit Kaur Hospital at Beawar. Earlier on March 13, 2021, there was a fire in the ward due to a technical fault. But at that time 16 newborns were saved. The very next day, the oxygen line valve was found open in the labour room.