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State health dept issues advisory to prevent hospital fires
Dr Sunita Golhait, joint director of health services (Hospitals), on Monday, issued a letter to all health officers of Municipal corporations
Following a tragic fire incident at a Delhi hospital on Sunday, the State Public Health Department has issued an advisory, asking all health officials across the state to conduct thorough inspections of all hospitals, address electrical capacity discrepancies, ensure valid fire NOCs, and implement critical safety measures to prevent potential hospital fires.
Dr Sunita Golhait, joint director of health services (Hospitals), on Monday, issued a letter to all health officers of Municipal corporations, district health officers, civil surgeons, and deputy directors across the state directing them to get the fire and electrical maintenance and compliance done of private and public hospitals in their jurisdiction.
“All the healthcare facilities have been instructed to conduct thorough inspections of all private and government hospitals in their jurisdiction. The officials are directed to address any discrepancies in electrical load capacity, ensure that hospitals have valid fire NOCs from respective fire departments, and implement critical safety measures. Besides, the officials are asked to submit a report on their findings,” Golhait said.
The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has 899 private hospitals and nursing homes registered under the Maharashtra Nursing Home Registration Act 1949. At the same time, the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has 617 private hospitals and 1,456 clinics registered with the civic body. However, fire safety is neglected in many clinics and small and medium-sized hospitals, officials said.
“Conduct comprehensive fire safety audits and on-site inspections of all hospitals to assess fire safety compliance. Ensure that fire-fighting systems, including fire alarms, fire smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, fire hydrants, and fire lifts, are present, fully functional and maintained,” Dr Golhait said in the letter.
As per officials, the fire safety assessment of the hospitals should be done as most of the fire accidents are caused by short circuits, overheating, overloading, use of poor-quality electrical equipment, improper electrical wiring, lack of proper earthing, increased pressure of electricity due to use of air conditioning system and other equipment in hospitals.
The letter further stated, “Electrical equipment is used in important departments like SNCU, ICU Surgery and Dialysis unit. To avoid threats, ensure electrical load audits and calibration of electrical loads in all departments. Make sure that multiple high-power devices are not connected to a single circuit. Hospitals store a lot of inflammable materials like various chemicals, gas cylinders, heat-dissipating surgical instruments, etc.”
Dr Kalpana Baliwant, deputy health officer of PMC, said, the fire audit and electrical audit is mandatory for private hospitals to get new registration or renewal for the Bombay Nursing Home Act.
“Most of the private hospitals and all PMC-run hospitals have valid fire NOC and electrical audit. However, we will ask the ward medical officers to conduct a thorough inspection of hospitals to ensure fire safety and electrical audit compliance. The ward medical officers regularly conduct inspections of hospitals for fire safety compliance,” she said.
The hospitals now have been directed to enforce strict non-smoking rules in hospital oxygen tanks and piped oxygen areas. Such areas should be marked with appropriate signs and employees in these areas should be trained in the risks associated with high oxygen.
The Health Department has also advised that the hospital staff should be trained on fire safety protocols, evacuation procedures for evacuating patients, staff and visitors in case of untoward incidents like fire, as well as the use of firefighting equipment.
