Family Testifies About Victim Who Died During Fire at Dr. Soetomo Hospital
A patient at Dr. Soetomo Hospital in Surabaya was pronounced dead during a fire that broke out on the 5th floor of the Integrated Heart Center (PPJT) building on Friday, May 15th.
The deceased patient was identified as Sutaji (46), from Kapuan Village, Cepu District, Blora Regency, Central Java. The patient, who was being treated in the ICCU on the 6th floor, was pronounced dead despite being successfully evacuated.
Yuli, the victim’s wife, said that during the incident, Sutaji was the last patient to be evacuated by officers. Previously, other critically ill patients had also been successfully rescued.
She admitted that she was initially confused trying to find Sutaji because they were separated. Her husband was being treated in the ICCU, where family members could not be present at all times.
As a result, during the incident, Yuli panicked and evacuated herself first, leaving the building while resigned to the fact and hoping that her husband would be successfully evacuated by the officers.
“I looked around, and there were only two people left upstairs. The first one had already gone down, and my husband was the last,” said Yuli, stuttering.
During the evacuation process, all the electricity in the PPJT building was turned off. Yuli then evacuated to the ground floor using the emergency stairs because the elevator was no longer functioning.
Yuli said that shortly after, she met Sutaji. However, her husband’s condition was getting weaker. Shortly after being moved to the Resuscitation Room (RES) in the Emergency Department, the man from Blora was pronounced dead.
“When we were going down, my husband’s heart was already weak, and he immediately passed away,” said Yuli, who then started crying.
As is known, a fire broke out in the Integrated Heart Center (PPJT) building of Dr. Soetomo Hospital, Surabaya, on Friday, May 15th. Preliminary investigations suggest that the fire originated from a short circuit in the electrical wiring of a refrigerator in the pharmacy on the 5th floor of the building.
A total of 44 patients were evacuated from the PPJT building. However, one patient, Sutaji (46), from Kapuan Village, Cepu District, Blora, Central Java, who was being treated in the ICCU on the 6th floor, was pronounced dead despite being successfully moved.
The Director of Dr. Soetomo Hospital, Prof. Dr. Cita Rosita Sigit Prakoeswa, stated that the patient’s death was purely due to the illness he was suffering from, not due to the impact of the fire or smoke exposure.
Cita said that the patient was indeed in critical condition before the fire occurred. During the incident, the patient was receiving assistance through medical equipment because he was experiencing failure of several major organs.
“He died because of his illness. As our colleagues explained, his condition was being supported by three organs, namely the lungs, heart, and kidneys. And dialysis was underway, and we continued the evacuation, and of course, it was not because of the smoke because everything was supported by machines,” said Cita.