Dr. Soetomo Hospital Denies Patient Death Resulted from Fire

Dr. Soetomo Hospital in Surabaya has provided clarification regarding reports of a patient’s death during the fire incident that occurred on Friday (May 15) morning.

The hospital stated that the patient’s death was purely due to the underlying disease, not due to the impact of the fire or smoke exposure. The fire occurred in the area on the 5th floor of the Integrated Heart Center (PPJT) building.

The Director of Dr. Soetomo Hospital, Prof. Dr. Cita Rosita Sigit Prakoeswa, said that the patient was in critical condition before the fire. At the time of the incident, the patient was receiving assistance through medical equipment due to failure of several major organs.

“The patient died due to illness. As we explained earlier, the patient’s condition was supported by three organs, namely the lungs, heart, and kidneys. Dialysis was also in progress, and we still carried out the evacuation, and of course, it was not due to smoke because everything was supported by machines,” said Cita at the location.

The Deputy Director of Medical and Nursing Services, Prof. Dr. Ahmad Suryawan, stated that patients using medical equipment would not be affected by external conditions, including fire smoke. In addition, the evacuation procedure was carried out very strictly without disconnecting the medical support for the patients.

“If the support is from a machine, there will be no influence from anything outside, including the smoke. During the evacuation, the machine support was not disconnected,” said Suryawan.

Regarding the condition of other patients, around 30 people, the management ensured that all of them were in stable condition and had been evacuated to the resuscitation room.

Suryawan emphasized that no patients suffered burns or breathing difficulties as a result of the incident, given that most of the patients were using ventilator breathing aids.

“[Other patients] are stable. They were not affected by the smoke because all those affected by the smoke were our staff. There were no patients with burns,” he said.

Although the patients were declared safe, the hospital confirmed that there were victims from internal staff. Four hospital staff were reported to have been affected by inhaling smoke while trying to carry out handling and evacuation. One of the victims was the coordinator of the hospital’s fire team.

“There was no shortness of breath because all those using ventilators still had the machines running. There were staff members who were affected, but thankfully they have been treated. There were four people, but thankfully they have been handled,” added Cita.

As of now, the management of Dr. Soetomo Hospital is still conducting an internal investigation regarding the source of the fire. The hospital chose to wait for the results of the official investigation and did not want to make statements without a strong basis.

“We are not yet willing to speculate,” said Cita briefly.

The fire hit the 5th floor of the Integrated Heart Center (PPJT) building at Dr. Soetomo Hospital, Surabaya, on Friday (May 15) morning. One patient was reported to have died. The fire report was received by officers at around 06:30 WIB. Based on observations, thick black smoke was seen billowing from the top of the building and was clearly visible from outside the hospital area. The Head of the Surabaya City Fire and Rescue Service (DPKP), Laksita Rini Sevriani, confirmed that there were casualties in the incident. “In the ICU, one patient was declared dead. The other was evacuated,” said Rini when contacted by reporters on Friday (May 15). As many as 33 patients who were in the PPJT building were evacuated by joint officers to the Emergency Unit (UGD) to receive further medical treatment. Rini explained that the fire originated from one of the vital rooms on the 5th floor.