Operating room on fire, doctors and nurses escape except a patient under anesthesia

From Sina:

A hospital in Shanghai was caught on fire, doctors and nurses all left the building, safe and sound, but a patient undergoing an amputation surgery was left on the operation table and died of asphyxiation.

Spokesman of the hospital later confirmed the news. When the fire happened, doctors are performing an amputation operation. The patient, around 49 year-old, was sent hospital after a car accident. The operation began around 8 pm and was about to be finished when the fire happened. 6 doctors and nurses were in the operation room at the time. When they realized the next room was on fire, they left the operation room. The patient under general anesthesia was left in the operation room.

Later when the firefighters arrived, the doctor told them there was still a man in the operation room. Witness said, the fire was not really a big fire but the hospital was full of thick smoke. Unfortunately, soon after the firefighters went to rescue the patient, the patient was found dead on the operation table.

Most Chinese people found this hard to accept and condemned the doctors and nurses of being ruthless. But there are people who defend the doctors and nurses, saying it’s not their fault considering the situation. The patient was under general anesthesia and even if they carried him out he would not survive without all the necessary equipment.

According to Yangcheng Evening News, the director of the hospital gave the following explanations. These 6 medical staffs found smoke coming from next door during the surgery, 2 of them left in the operating room while 4 went to fight the fire. At first, they thought the fire was not so heavy. So they tried to put out the fire and to close the wound of the patient at the same time. But the fire got heavier. And the strong smoke stopped the 4 doctors from coming back to the operating room. Then these 2 also left when they waited and no one have come back. The director mentioned that the operating table is too heavy for only 2 people to move. It needs 3. Another reason is Zhu can’t be moved at that time. Firstly, the electronic locking system of the operating table couldn’t be unlocked because the power was off. Secondly, after limbs amputation, Zhu was still bleeding heavily with only several stitches. Removing the tourniquet risked his life. Thirdly, Zhu was still under general anesthesia, so he couldn’t breathe autonomously without the respirator. And the respirator would work within 30 minutes after the blackout. So the doctors left the patient there deliberately.

The hospital’s medical staffs involved have been suspended and under investigation.

Room in the red circle is the operation room

Following are some selected comments from Sina.com:

2011-08-26 19:56:53 新浪网友yimg

看样子，中国的医学院应该增加一门课，专门学习医德。

"Looks like the Chinese medical school should add one more class to their curriculum- medical ethics."

2011-08-26 19:39:30 新浪网友fjzzzp001

无异于谋杀！！！！

"This is no different from murder"

2011-08-26 18:57:09 新浪网友off_4108

6个护士啊，最起码确保自己安全后能喊人去帮忙，人多的话还是可能来得及的，等消防人员来了才“发现”，这才是最可怕的。向动作敏捷的，英勇的白衣天使致敬啊！ "6 nurses. They could at least ask for more help when they got out instead of waiting for the firefighters to find the patient dead. That’s the scariest part. (Ironically)Let’s pay our respects to the quickest in action and the brave white angel nurses! "

2011-08-26 14:55:03 新浪网友292220691

我想知道，一个全麻的病人，遇停电、起火，是不是就只能等死了？

医院有没有与预案？ I want to know, does this means when a hospital is on fire, a patient under general anesthesia has to wait and die? Doesn’t the hospital have any prevention system on that?

2011-08-26 12:41:02 新浪手机用户

医院设计手术室没有想到突发事吗？

When they design the operation room, do they consider emergency like that would happen?

2011-08-26 11:10:00 新浪网友社会闲杂

看来我们都误解医生了，以前都认为他们之谋财，没想到白衣禽兽不仅谋财，而且害命， 哈哈哈 We all misunderstand the doctors. I used to think they are all for money, but the truth is ,they don’t just swindle money off us, they also do "murder".

2011-08-26 10:14:26 新浪手机用户

逃离时为什么不推车把病人一起推走呢?很自然,很习惯的想法,不需要等脑海里涌现什么英雄人物之后再去做。这些都是本能。更何况你们是医生,整天救死扶伤的救世主。嗨!良 心?! "When they ran for life why didn’t they carry the operation table as well? This is very natural, you don’t need to think too much. It’s your instinct. And you are the so-called"life-saving"heroes? Where’s your conscience? "

2011-08-26 07:39:46 新浪手机用户