No fire audits, Kerala hospitals sitting on powder keg

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: At a time when hospitals are brimming with patients, mostly those affected severely by Covid-19, a fire accident is something one wants to avoid at any cost. Even the hint of a smoke in an ICU would cause damage to patients struggling for breath. 

However, several major hospitals, including the old government medical colleges, haven’t done any fire auditing to deal with freak accidents. The risk factor in such hospitals has increased with the wide use of oxygen support and machinery in ICUs. The delay in conducting a formal fire audit has forced the government to call for a rapid safety audit to ascertain the gaps and improve safety standards. 
Nationally, the attention was drawn to possibilities of fire breaking out in hospitals after several people died in such accidents in Maharashtra and Gujarat in April.

“There are many hospitals including Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital which have not carried out a fire audit. It will put the staff and patients at risk during an accident,” said a source. The department has informed district collectors about non-compliance with fire audits.

A fire audit involves finding the possibility of fire, firefighting arrangements and checking if the guidelines of National Building Code (NBC) are complied with.Though Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had warned of fire accidents due to wide use of oxygen cylinders and directed the Fire and Rescue Services Department to carry out the audit, it has not got the desired speed.

“The fire officers are reluctant to visit a Covid hospital during a heightened spread of infection,” said the officer. He, however, said that over 90 per cent of the officers have been given Covid vaccines. The health department, concerned over the risk of accidents, has conducted online training for staff in private and government hospitals to check oxygen leakage. The ICUs, wards with oxygen beds, stocking of oxygen and chemicals, earthing and electrical systems have been included in must-check lists in technical audit. “The oxygen war room also keeps track of the oxygen use in various hospitals and CSLTCs. If the proportion of oxygen used becomes higher as compared to the number of patients, we give an alert,” said an officer of National Health Mission.

The Covid first and second-line treatment centres also lack an evacuation plan, said an officer of the Department of Fire and Rescue Services. It would mean that the patients and staff will be clueless on which way to run and assemble in the event of a fire. 

Though the department has submitted a basic plan to keep 5,000-10,000 litres of water in tanks, firefighting equipment and appointment of a fire safety officer in the building, these have not been complied with fully. The responsibility of CFLTCs/CSLTCs lies with the local bodies in the region.