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A healthy baby was born at the Dr. Gustavo Aldereguía Lima Provincial Hospital in Cienfuegos while the facility was dealing with a code red due to a fire declared on Tuesday night, as reported by the center's director, Ling Denisse Santeiro Pérez, to Periódico 5 de Septiembre.
The fire started around 9:00 p.m. in the basement of the second floor of the hospital, specifically between the Intensive Care Unit and the psychiatry room, in the area between towers 3 and 4.
The Fire Department managed to extinguish the flames in approximately twenty minutes.
The main damage was to the emergency electrical circuit, which affected vital services such as the labor area, pre-labor, angiolog, neonatology, the clinical and surgical ICUs, as well as the vacuum pump and compressors.
In the midst of the emergency, a term patient was transferred from the delivery area and gave birth to a healthy girl. Both the mother and the newborn are progressing favorably.
At the time of the incident, the hospital had 311 hospitalized patients, of which 31 were relocated to other institutions —psychiatric hospital, pediatric hospital, and the Specialized Outpatient Center— while another 79 were moved internally to safer areas.
More than 12 patients were in critical condition at the time of the fire, of which eight were on ventilation.
The team of electromedical technicians and maintenance worked throughout the night to restore the compressors and vacuum pump, ensuring the continuity of essential services.
Approximately 12 meters of piping that supply water to the hospitalization area, kitchen, and dining room were also damaged, although alternatives were sought to avoid service interruptions.
Since dawn today, a commission led by the Deputy Minister of Public Health, Dr. Julio Veliz Izquierdo, is accompanying the hospital to restore the affected services and mitigate the damage.
The guard area and the emergency and medical urgent care department remain operational, although the outpatient elective surgery consultations have been suspended and their procedures will be rescheduled.
The causes of the incident are being investigated by a commission from the Ministry of the Interior.
This fire occurred just four days after the Saturnino Lora Torres Provincial Hospital in Santiago de Cuba suffered a smaller incident, caused by a voltage spike that overheated the air conditioner's compressor, which forced the evacuation of 12 patients.
Both incidents reflect the chronic electrical deterioration of Cuban hospitals.
The Aldereguía Lima had already suffered a fire in July 2018, when the flames affected three of its five floors and damaged 24 facilities and 85 medical devices, with no human casualties.
"Thanks to the immediate activation, all necessary actions were completed in just three hours to control the situation and ensure the safety of patients and staff. The hospital, despite having experienced this dangerous situation, the most important thing was the work of our people."
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