Fire dept launches safety audit at district hospitals

Thiruvananthapuram: With the facilities in

hospitals

stretched way too thin due to the current Covid pandemic situation, the vulnerability of hospitals to

fire

outbreaks has also increased. To address this, the fire department has launched a fire

audit

in all hospitals in the

district

.

According to the fire department authorities, nearly half the hospitals they examined in the district were lacking proper fire fighting systems. The first round of the audit conducted two months ago in nearly 70 hospitals found that close to 30 lacked properly functional fire fighting systems. As the next round of this audit, the department will soon be launching a review inspection to check whether they have made necessary changes by updating their equipment.

Speaking to TOI, Fire Director (Technical) M Noushad said that under the current circumstances, more volumes of materials are being used in hospitals now. Almost all people are carrying alcohol based hand sanitizers with them and hospitals are stocking medical oxygen in excess to meet any exigencies. Alcohol vapour and oxygen-rich environments are highly vulnerable to a fire outbreak.

He added that such inspections were conducted in hospitals in other districts too. So far a total of 400 hospitals were covered out of which almost half of them were identified to be lacking in

safety

measures. The audit reports were also forwarded to local body offices concerned to ensure that the hospital management complied with the instructions, he said.

In addition to these, are other factors such as increased electrical load on life saving electrical equipment, compartments of beds with combustible curtains and frequent sanitation of beds and equipment which may contribute to the quick spread of fire in case of an outbreak.

Fire department officials have also advised hospital managements to ensure all emergency fire exits are left clear of any blocks. This is because the officers who visited the hospitals could see stairways and corridors being used to store various materials.

“At many hospitals we could even see a lack of sufficient ventilations,” said an officer attached to one of the fire stations in the district.