ASHA blames it on ignorance

HYDERABAD: In the wake of the tough stand taken by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) against hospitals for not following fire safety norms, the governing body of the Andhra Pradesh Super Speciality Hospital Association (ASHA) on Tuesday sought immediate verification of hospitals in the city and announced setting up of special task forces to monitor safety norms.Addressing a press conference here, Dr B Bhaskar Rao, president, ASHA, along with other members of the association, also announced a series of workshops in the near future for doctors and hospital administration staff on fire safety norms to be implemented. “The twin cities together have over 1,000 hospitals, of which 43 are super speciality. It would be difficult for the smaller hospitals to adhere to norms followed by the super-speciality hospitals, but since only 5% of the total construction cost is spent on fire safety, there can be no excuse for improper implementation,” he said. On the proposed task forces, he said, “The task force will look for basic safety features that are lacking and convey the same to the hospitals.”  The general feeling among the ASHA members was that ignorance was behind the failure of hospitals to install fire safety equipment. “A few years ago, fire sprinklers were not in much use. But now with awareness, many hospitals in the city have set it up. Similarly, hospitals should not only have vertical evacuation plans, but also horizontal. Fire resistant walls are required,” he added.