More than 100 people were evacuated from Family Medical Unit No. 57 of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) in the city and port of Veracruz after a small fire filled one of the medical care areas with smoke.
At around 11:00 a.m., a spark caused by repair work being carried out on the building’s roof triggered a small fire, causing smoke to be drawn through the ventilation ducts.
Emergency protocols were activated at the IMSS facility, and both medical staff and patients were evacuated outside the building, while the internal emergency brigades brought the smoke under control.
Guadalupe Tapia Hernández, director of Civil Protection for the Municipality of Veracruz, reported that no one was injured in the incident and that there were no reports of material losses or infrastructure damage resulting from the emergency.
She said that personnel from the municipal Civil Protection department and Veracruz Fire Department arrived at the site and confirmed that everything was under control. Ventilation work was then carried out so the facility could eventually resume operations.
“In accordance with the ‘safe hospital’ protocol and the civil protection protocol, a total of 186 people were evacuated, (…) There was no damage to the infrastructure, as I mentioned, because the building is currently undergoing remodeling,” the municipal official said.
Patients who had gone to the IMSS expressed concern about missing their medical appointments, as they have not yet been given certainty about when they will be rescheduled.
Meanwhile, the IMSS Veracruz North Delegation reported that the facilities are currently being evaluated to determine when normal activities can resume at the family medical unit.
“Personnel from the Maintenance Department and the Civil Protection Office requested assistance from the Emergency Services. At this time, an evaluation is being carried out with State Civil Protection authorities and the Fire Department to issue the corresponding assessment and determine whether it is feasible to resume normal activities,” the institution stated.
Source: jornada
