Kathmandu— Staff nurse Razia Noreen, working at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad, saved one newborn during a fire that claimed 14 infant lives on August 26, 2023, as she rushed into the smoke-filled nursery moments after seeing a red light through the glass panel, carrying the baby to a doctor before returning for others she could not reach in time.

Nursery Fire Incident

Staff nurse Razia Noreen was preparing morning injections at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) nursery ward when she noticed a sharp red light through the glass panel of the nursery at 6:38 a.m. on August 26. She immediately rushed into the ward, emerging eight seconds later with one baby, before returning to the smoke-filled room to save more. By 6:40 a.m., the nursery was engulfed in thick smoke, and Noreen could not retrieve the remaining 14 infants, all of whom perished in the fire.

The government’s interim inquiry stated the fire’s cause remains inconclusive, with evidence pointing to the air-conditioning unit, an incubator, or an electrical short circuit. Noreen described seeing fire coming from the side of the AC unit, while the nursery held 15 newborns, four of whom were already in critical condition before the fire.

Heroic Actions and Aftermath

Noreen carried the single surviving infant to Dr. Abdul Rehman, who had been inserting a feeding tube in the adjacent room, before attempting to return for more babies. She and Dr. Rimsha, who entered the nursery after seeing the same light, tried to navigate the smoke but were stopped by a sudden power outage and thick smoke. Hospital guards later recovered Noreen’s scorched phone from the burned ward.

The government inquiry later refuted claims that medical staff abandoned the infants, noting that Noreen and her colleagues worked to rescue babies from an adjoining gynecology ward, passing them to the neonatal intensive care unit until the smoke became too dense to continue.

Nurse’s Personal Journey

Noreen, 38, has worked 21 years in government nursing, 17 at PIMS, and has never married. She described her role as a newborn’s "first mother," emphasizing the constant vigilance required to monitor oxygen, feeding, and breathing every two hours. Born in Sahiwal to a pastor father who died when she was 13, she is one of seven children, with two sisters deceased and one sister also a nurse in Lahore.

Her mother, 83, lives in Lahore with a brother, while Noreen has resided in the PIMS staff hostel for most of her career. She was unable to contact her family immediately after the fire, relying on her niece to relay her safety to her mother.

Calls for Safety Improvements

Noreen stressed the need for regular fire drills, accessible extinguishers, cross-ventilation systems, and rehearsed evacuation routes for nurseries, noting that no drills had been conducted in the nursery before the fire, even after a nearby hostel fire in July.

She criticized the lack of preparedness, stating, "If a fire starts, everyone needs to already know what to do," and highlighted the heavy workload, with nurses often managing 20 to 25 babies and working without breaks, even when carrying water for hydration.

Noreen, who has been on medical leave since the incident, continues to suffer from fever, cough, and insomnia, haunted by the memory of the 14 infants she could not save, while the surviving baby remains in critical condition in the neonatal intensive care unit.

(With inputs from Al Jazeera)

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Originally published on abcnews.com.np.