中國網(wǎng)站品牌欄目（頻道）
Two senior hospital executives were punished after six medical staff members fled during a fire and left a patient who was undergoing surgery to suffocate.
Chen Aidong, vice-president of the Shanghai Third People's Hospital Affiliated to the School of Medicine of Shanghai Jiaotong University, formerly known as Baogang Hospital, was removed from his post, as he was in charge of the hospital's fire protection. Fang Yong, president of the hospital, received an administrative warning, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Saturday.
The six medical staff - two doctors, two anesthesiologists and two nurses - have not been punished yet.
On Aug 24, a fire broke out at about 9:45 pm in an operating room at the hospital when a 49-year-old patient surnamed Zhu was undergoing an amputation after a traffic accident. The medical staff members fled, leaving the patient, who was under general anesthesia, to die from suffocation.
An investigation panel, composed of the authorities responsible for public security, fire protection and public health, said that the fire was caused by a weakness in the hospital's fire protection system and an absence of emergency protocols in special areas including operating rooms, which led to the medical workers' responses.
The fire started in an ozone sterilizer in one of the operating rooms. A nurse tried to put out the fire with an extinguisher but failed.
The fire caused a power outage, which disabled the electric brake on the operating table.
The doctors left the operating room to find firefighters to rescue the patient after they found that the respirator, which can operate for about 30 minutes during a blackout using standby power, was functioning normally.
The firefighters arrived in about five minutes and took another 25 minutes to extinguish the fire.
The Shanghai Public Health Bureau said that it would have been dangerous to transfer the patient and replace his respirator with simple breathing equipment.
（中國日報網(wǎng)英語點津 Helen 編輯）
About the broadcaster:
Lee Hannon is Chief Editor at China Daily with 15-years experience in print and broadcast journalism. Born in England, Lee has traveled extensively around the world as a journalist including four years as a senior editor in Los Angeles. He now lives in Beijing and is happy to move to China and join the China Daily team.
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