Fire crisis: Only few hospitals in city prepared

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:  Ninety-three lives were lost in the blaze that engulfed the AMRI Hospital, Kolkata, last week. How many hospitals in fast-growing Thiruvananthapuram can tackle a similar disaster? ‘Few’ would be the answer. Flawed or non-existent fire-fighting mechanisms and absence of hospital contingency and mass casualty management plans will prove fatal for many hospitals in the city in the event of a similar disaster, experts say.And this is not a problem confined to hospitals alone."The problem is that there is no periodic review of fire safety mechanisms in high-rises. The safety certificate is issued when giving building permit, and there is no subsequent inspection after that. This is a major handicap,’’ says R Viji, project officer of the City Corporation’s Disaster Management Cell.Last month, the Corporation issued notices to high-rises, including hospitals, to pull  their act vis a vis safety together. The first periodical safety assessment in high-rises, including hospitals, will be carried out this month."It will focus on fire safety aspects as well as earthquake preparedness. Many high-rises even lack emergency exits such as fire escapes,’’ she said.Unlike hotels and apartments, evacuation in hospitals assumes an altogether different dimension. Hundreds of patients, many of them incapacitated, have to be extricated in a matter of minutes, which calls for coordinated effort. But it is a fact that few hospitals have even emergency escape routes marked out.Absence of hydrants, timely replacement of fire-fighting equipment and general complacency in the matter of fire safety are issues faced by the Fire and Rescue Service Department."Periodical inspection is crucial,’’ said K Sivanandan, Director (Technical), Fire and Rescue Service Department. "We have now framed rules for periodical checks in buildings. This will soon come into force,’’ he said.But it’s not as if the issue of disaster management has never been discussed in hospitals. A few private hospitals have staged mock drills with the help of the Fire and Rescue Service. But government hospitals are more vulnerable when it comes to handling disasters on home patch, according to a senior disaster management official in the state.On December 2, the Institute of Land and Disaster Management under the Revenue Department, in association with GeoHazards, the global partner of the World Health Organisation (WHO), organised a one-day workshop at the Government Hospital, Peroorkada, on disaster management in hospitals. In Phase II, mock drills are also planned.