<p>Thiruvananthapuram: Triggering panic, a fire broke out in the surgical intensive care unit (SICU) of the <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/thiruvananthapuram">Thiruvananthapuram </a>government medical college hospital on Tuesday morning.</p> <p>Hospital authorities said that all the 33 patients were safely shifted from the SICU. There were no casualties. </p> <p>The incident is likely to trigger a political debate in poll-bound Kerala, especially since back to back lapses in the public health sector is a key issue that the opposition Congress and the BJP are raising against the Left Democratic Front government during the election campaign.</p> <p>The fire reportedly broke out from a ventilator support system, suspected to be due to an electric short circuit. Hospital staff swiftly put out the fire using fire extinguishers. Some patients were learnt to have suffered breathing difficulties due to the smoke. Oxygen lines to the ICU were also closed to prevent the chances of fire spreading.</p>.As Cuttack reels from tragedy, here's a timeline of major recent hospital fires in India.<p>Last year a fire broke out at the UPS room of the Kozhikode government medical college hospital following a short circuit, leading to smoke engulfing the adjacent casualty ward. Four persons who were at the casualty at the time of the incident had died. But hospital authorities claimed that the deaths were not caused by the fire.</p>
<p>Thiruvananthapuram: Triggering panic, a fire broke out in the surgical intensive care unit (SICU) of the <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/thiruvananthapuram">Thiruvananthapuram </a>government medical college hospital on Tuesday morning.</p> <p>Hospital authorities said that all the 33 patients were safely shifted from the SICU. There were no casualties. </p> <p>The incident is likely to trigger a political debate in poll-bound Kerala, especially since back to back lapses in the public health sector is a key issue that the opposition Congress and the BJP are raising against the Left Democratic Front government during the election campaign.</p> <p>The fire reportedly broke out from a ventilator support system, suspected to be due to an electric short circuit. Hospital staff swiftly put out the fire using fire extinguishers. Some patients were learnt to have suffered breathing difficulties due to the smoke. Oxygen lines to the ICU were also closed to prevent the chances of fire spreading.</p>.As Cuttack reels from tragedy, here's a timeline of major recent hospital fires in India.<p>Last year a fire broke out at the UPS room of the Kozhikode government medical college hospital following a short circuit, leading to smoke engulfing the adjacent casualty ward. Four persons who were at the casualty at the time of the incident had died. But hospital authorities claimed that the deaths were not caused by the fire.</p>