The patients at the Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) have been suffering due to electricity supply disruption since Thursday.
Sources said a 1500 KVA transformer acted up on the day. Later, the authority started supplying electricity with a 400 KVA transformer to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Coronary Care Unit (CCU), operation theatres and newborn wards.
The patients were suffering in the summer heat as the hospital authority could not provide electricity for using ceiling fans in wards.
During a visit to the CMCH, doctors and nurses were found to be providing treatment with mobile’s flash lights and charge lights while patients and their relatives were also seen using hand-fans to beat the summer heat.
70-year-old Mofizul Islam, who was admitted to the nephrology ward of the hospital couple of days back, could not be given dialysis yesterday due to the power cut, said the patient’s wife Rebeka Sultana.
Masud, guardian of a patient admitted in the medicine ward, said the patient could not sleep all night. Any healthy person will fall sick without a fan in these scorching days.
Shuvra Das, brother of psychology ward’s patient Mitul, said the treatment of his brother could not be continued due to the power failure.
2-year-old Tanisha was seen crying from the heat while her parents said they were trying to reduce her sufferings with a hand-fan.
The CMCH police outpost in-Charge Sub-Inspector Jahirul Islam said the power disruption had remained unchanged since Thursday evening except for ICU and OTs.
“Most of the wards out of 39 in the hospital, doctors’ chambers, medical college classrooms, hostels and other offices are seeing low supply of power,” he also said.
Khorsheda Shirin, assistant director of the hospital, said they were trying to fix the problem.
Towhid Akber, deputy assistant engineer of public works department, said they were trying to supply electricity through four small-sized transformers. If it works, they would be able to provide 70 percent of electricity.
Though the 1500KVA transformer at the hospital went out of operation, the hospital authorities managed to supply power to many departments, including the operation theatre and ICU, through generators and an alternative power supply, said CMCH Director Brigadier General Khondakar Shahidul Ghani.
“The urgent operations are going on managing emergency power supply,” he also said.
The PWD authorities claimed they managed to meet about 90 percent power demand of the hospital but they would be able to provide non-stop power only after installing a new transformer.
