Hospital disaster management plan for Tamil Nadu finalised

Exactly two years after the expert committee was constituted with members of various departments, the recommendations on hospital disaster management are now ready to be submitted to the High Court for approval.

The recommendations got prepared after the Madras High Court directed the formation of the committee, in 2017, following a petition by social activist Jawahar Shanmugham to look into various norms flouted by both the government and the private hospitals.

Talking to The Federal, Shanmugham who is also part of the committee said that the recommendations focussed more on finding solutions than just pinpointing existing faults. “A majority of the hospitals in the state (there are 5000-odd hospitals) have flouted several norms like the setback area,  guidelines related to the use of basement and terrace, etc. Rampant violations also means that the various government departments that should have ensured their compliance have failed. The government hospitals have flouted the most among all the violators,” he said. The broad range of violations cover building norms and fire safety measures. “The recommendations assume significance as we have to be prepared for any kind of emergency or disaster in the form of floods, tsunami and fire accidents and we are talking about sick and immobile patients who are vulnerable in such times,” he said.

The recommendations have been given keeping in mind that the hospitals in question are part of the robust healthcare that the state is known for, he added. “The motive is not to close the hospitals for the violations.”

Shanmugham himself had done the auditing of 60 hospitals, while experts from the medical fraternity were roped into conduct the audits in other hospitals of the state.

The recommendations are being seen as a reference for the entire country to follow. Even as these were discussed, there was a fire accident in ESIC Hospital Mumbai, killing 13.

Similarly, in Chennai, Chettinad Hospital averted a major disaster just last week, when a fire broke out in the wee hours. Shanmugham said, “I did visit the hospital recently and told them of the need to have sprinklers and more ramps. Luckily, the hospital’s horizontal space helped in quick evacuation.”

The departments that were a part of the expert committee are the Tamil Nadu health department, Directorate of Medical Education, Directorate of Medical Services, Directorate of Public Health, Public Works Department,  Chennai Metro Development Authority, Tamil Nadu Medical Council, Indian Medical Association, Association of Hospital Providers and the Disability Welfare Department.