Thoothukudi Government Hospital gears up for heavy rain

Thoothukudi Medical College Hospital in Tamil Nadu takes precautions after flood damage, elevating generators and medical equipment for safety.

After the Indian Meteorological Department’s heavy rain alert to southern districts in Tamil Nadu, medical equipment and generators at Thoothukudi Medical College Hospital have been shifted to safer locations.  

The flood in 2023 ravaged most parts of the district and important files, computers, medicines, expensive equipment, blood bank, generators and motors, among others, at the GH were damaged, resulting in a huge loss to the institution and doctors.  

Since the rain caused an unprecedented situation, the staff were helpless when the flood water entered the hospital, said J. Silas Jayamani, Resident Medical Officer.  

While all staff, including doctors and dean G. Sivakumar, remained in the hospital overnight till the water receded, nothing could be done to safeguard the materials. When important medical equipment like Cath lab were damaged, the entire process got halted for more than a month till the problem was resolved, he recalled.  

Due to lessons learnt from the experience, the generator slab had been elevated up to five feet to avoid damage to all the seven generators at the hospital. “As generators went dysfunctional, the entire electricity supply to the hospital got cut the whole night and the next day. So, to prevent such occurrence again, all slabs have been elevated,” Dr. Silas Jeyamani said.  

Further, all 36 motors to pump water to the tanks were also placed over the elevated slab. While the central lab, equipment such as computer, printer and other related accessories, blood storage machine, cell separator and agitator machines were shifted to the first floor, flooring of the medical store, blood bank, surgical store, UPS room was raised to prevent entry of water into those rooms.  

“When the blood bank and medicines were damaged due to water stagnation, it took more than a month to restore supply of blood and medicines,” he added.