Several of the district hospitals constructed in the new campus have fire fighting systems, whereas many others in old buildings are devoid of smoke detectors, hydrants and sprinklers among other fire safety measures.
Fire safety focus is again on Delhi Hospital after seven newborns died in a recent hospital fire. “State health department officials said that they had requested for funds from state government to install firefighting system in 13 district hospitals,” one source said.
The department had proposed to allocate ₹6 crore per annum towards provision of firefighting systems in 13 hospitals based on the findings of a fire audit conducted by it during 2022-23; however, only ₹6 crore was allocated for this purpose in this year’s budget as against ₹78 crore required.
On one hand, several of the district hospitals constructed in the new campus have fire fighting systems while many others situated in old buildings are without smoke detectors, hydrants and sprinklers among other fire safety measures.
Guidance
In March this year, after a letter from the Centre to all States regarding guidelines on fire safety, the Health Department directed healthcare facilities to ensure that all fire safety measures were put into place. During summer when incidents of outbreak of fires may be high, directorate has directed all healthcare facilities to follow safety guidelines as they are not just mere recommendations but mandatory under law,” he concluded at an event organised by ASSOCHAM here today.’
Union Health Secretary Apurva Chandra wrote a letter to Chief Secretaries requesting them to direct State Health Departments and State Disaster Management Authorities so that all hospitals conduct Fire Safety and Electrical Load Audits apart from having Fire NOC compliance with such requests should be made jointly with their respective Disaster Management Authorities at State levels.
Compliance
“We had given detailed instructions about actions that need to be taken for ensuring compliance with regard to fire safety during summer. We will re-enforce them and verify. Another advisory would also be issued to the hospitals after the Delhi fire,” Mr. Randeep said.
During his press briefing, Mr. Randeep instructed that “All hospitals including Primary Health Centers, Medical College Hospitals as well as Private Hospitals should regularly check all firefighting equipments such as fire extinguishers, hydrants and alarms.’’
For instance, hospitals need to develop maintenance schedules for all of their fire safety equipment and bi-annual electrical audits should be conducted by hospital personnel to evaluate the facility’s power consumption especially in areas with high energy demand like ICUs Furthermore, strict smoking regulations plus heat sources control must be implemented in place where there are oxygen tanks or piped oxygen. Signage stating this clearly must be posted and staff members must be trained on risks associated with high-oxygen environments such that may occur from time-to-time he added.
