Take steps to prevent hospital fires, Home Ministry tells states, union territories

A spate of hospital fires, often triggered by short-circuiting, has added to the pain of a nation battered by the second wave of COVID. In a bid to address this, the Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday asked all the states and union territories (UTs) to make sure fire accidents are prevented, both in government and private sector hospitals and nursing home. This particularly applies to those dedicated to COVID treatment.

Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, in a letter to the states and UTs, has noted that high temperature, lack of maintenance or high load on the internal wirings could lead to short circuiting, in turn resulting in fire accidents. The impending summer accentuates the problem, he noted.

Bhalla urged the state governments to prepare a plan of action to keep the facilities safe from fire incidents.

“Saving every life is a priority, and it is critical to ensure that required support is provided to all health facilities managing COVID by taking requisite actions in advance to avert any incident, which could hamper effective health care delivery to patients,” said the communication.

Recent accidents

On Tuesday, a fire accident in New Delhi’s Vikaspuri locality was reported; over 25 COVID patients were, however, rescued.  On April 25, a hospital fire in Surat claimed three lives.  Similarly, a fire on April 23 at Mumbai’s Vijay Vallabh Hospital claimed the lives of 15 patients.

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In other similar incidents last month alone, five deaths were reported in Raipur and four in Nagpur. There have also been numerous fire incidents which, fortunately, did not result in deaths, but which nevertheless can serve a further blow to the healthcare system.

The Home Ministry has instructed   states and union territories, with the help of officials from various departments such as Health, Power and Fire, to carry out a detailed review of the current facilities. Further, it said, they should put in an action plan ensuring the hospitals and other health facilities are 100% safe.

Field level officers should visit heath facilities at regular intervals to examine internal wirings and availability of functional safety equipment, said the Ministry. In case deficiencies are detected, they should make sure they are addressed immediately.

Recently, the Director General – Fire Services, Civil Defence and Home Guards issued an advisory on fire safety in hospitals and nursing homes.

Stress on healthcare system

It has been estimated that in less than a year, over 90 lives have been lost to hospital fires — with a majority being COVID patients.  The frequency of such accidents since the onset of the pandemic leads fire safety experts to believe this is because of the stress on the healthcare system.

Overwhelmed by the caseload, hospital managements are often unable to implement the safety measures that they would in normal days. The crowding of wards due to additional beds, particularly in ICUs (where there tend to be more electrical equipment), could be the trigger, say experts.