RAWALPINDI, Sept 30: A three-day-old baby’s death, allegedly due to medical negligence at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Holy Family Hospital (HFH) prompted family and relatives of the child to agitate and damage the blood bank and other equipments.

A three-day-old boy, belonging to Muhammad Shaukat and his wife Reema, died at 2:00 pm on Sunday with complaints of respiratory problems and admitted at ICU level-III.

The relatives of the baby used to go to ICU frequently and the nurses stopped them as visitors are not allowed and only the mother and one other person can see the baby. There was an exchange of hot words, over the issue with the nurses.

After the exchange of hot words, more than 25 relatives of the baby boy gathered outside the ICU and made hue and cry. Soon after the announcement of the death of the baby, the male relatives got angry and smashed the window panes of the blood banks and other areas of the building.

The police arrived and managed to stop the relatives of the deceased baby. After listening to the reports, the HFH Medical Superintendent Capt (retired) Dr Muhammad Fayyaz also reached the hospital and held an inquiry.

“The nurses took revenge as we did not let the baby alone and they removed the oxygen mask and the male members of our family got angry,” said Barkat Bibi, a relative of Muhammad Shaukat, at the hospital. She said that the doctors and nurses should allow the relatives to see the new born baby.

“We are going frequently in fear that there were reports that the babies are being stolen from hospitals and we wanted to monitor all the procedure,” she said.

“The baby was suffering from respiratory problems and also diagnosed with a heart problem and at 1:30 pm the baby’s condition went from bad to worse and the doctors tried their best but failed to save the life of the baby,” said Capt (retired) Dr Muhammad Fayyaz, HFH Medical Superintendent, while talking to Dawn.

He said that the doctors conducted cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) of the child but failed to save his life and the oxygen mask was removed after the procedure.

“It is not medical negligence. We did not allow the relatives to enter the ICU level-III which is meant for critical patients,” he said.

He said that the people should be aware of the protocols of the ICU, as frequent visits of the attendants may spread germs for other patients admitted in the ICU.

He said that he conducted the inquiry and found that there was no medical negligence and it was a matter of misunderstanding.

He said that the FIR had been lodged with New Town Police Station for damaging the blood bank and creating unrest among the patients admitted in the hospital. He said that the police had started the investigation.

Young Doctors Association (YDA) Punjab Chairman, Dr Muhammad Haroon condemned the incident and termed it a security lapse.

“The Punjab government failed to provide security to the medical practitioners in government run hospitals as it was the third incident in Rawalpindi, during the last one month,” he said.

He said that the YDA would go on strike, if the proper security was not provided to the doctors and nurses in the government run hospitals.