|
The Karnataka government has mandated a fool proof firefighting plan in place to prevent unwarranted hospital fires. All medical centres across the state will now need to adhere to safety measures as per the National Building Code to obtain no objection certificate from the fire safety departments.
With a slew of fire eruption incidents resulting in loss to life and property, the Karnataka government has now indicated the need to strictly comply with fire prevention norms like for instance buildings above 21 metres have to mandatorily secure a Fire Safety No Objection certificate.
Indicating that the recent fire eruption incident at the New Born Baby Care Hospital at Vivek Vihar in New Delhi, Karnataka health commissioner D Randeep highlighted the absence of emergency or fire exit systems in the hospital premises. Along with the expiration of the hospital’s No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the fire safety department, the tragic oversight and neglect has resulted in the loss of several new-borns, he said.
Going the directive issued the Union government’s ministry of health which has called to conduct regular fire prevention risk assessment such as proper storage of inflammable materials, and regular and optimal preventive maintenance of electrical circuits and systems, the health commissioner sees the that adherence to the norms are a must.
Stringent implementation of appropriate fire prevention measures and providing the relevant training on fire safety protocols, evacuation procedures and use of firefighting equipment will go a long way to control such mishaps. It is also crucial for the hospitals and nursing homes to install and ensure optimum maintenance of fire detection and suppression systems, including smoke alarms, fire extinguishers and sprinklers.
Further it is also equally vital as a protocol to establish an emergency response plan with standard operating procedures for evacuating patients, staff and visitors in the event of a fire breakout. Fire drills are called to ensure total preparedness, he said.
The state government has insisted the formation of district level committees chaired by officers representing the health and family welfare department to ensure conduct of quarterly fire audits of each of each hospital and submit consolidated compliance reports on fire safety measures for private medical establishments to the health commiserate by the 5th of every month. This will put in place systems to stall any untoward fire mishap occurring across any medical centre in the 31 districts of Karnataka.
|