Don't keep this fire burning, however small and hidden

Geeta and Vishwanath Behere, who lost their newborn in the fire incident, at Bhandara General Hospital in Bhandara district. Pic/PTI

Nothing can be as unfortunate for parents as losing their children even before making together ever-lasting happy memories. The fire in the Bhandara District Hospital's neonatal care unit claimed the lives of 10 newborns who didn't rest for long in their mothers' laps because of their critical medical conditions. The mothers sat outside the care unit, waiting for the babies to get fit to travel home. However, the infants made their last journey before making their way home. The incident has yet again raised questions about our system's willpower and ability to avoid a trauma that the country is often subjected to.

A pan-India phenomenon

There have been several incidents of hospitals catching fire in the past decade. It's a pan-India phenomenon. Last year, Rajkot, Ahmedabad and Vijayawada reported over 20 deaths in fire. Kolkata's 95 deaths in 2011 remains one of the scariest incidents. Two years ago, 11 patients died in the fire at ESIC Hospital in Marol. Several instances of structures other than hospitals catching fire have also been reported in Mumbai, rest of Maharashtra and the country in the recent past. The state government had woken up from deep slumber after the ESIC hospital incident which revealed that the building was refused the Fire Department's no objection certificate because the equipment was not up to the mark and a lot of irregularities were found. Now, the Mumbai civic authorities have swung into action after the Bhandara fire and are verifying hospitals, clinics and nursing homes in its jurisdiction. The entire state machinery has been asked to step up efforts to audit hospitals for fire safety, structural stability and electrical maintenance. There is nothing extraordinary about issuing such instruction and enforcement. What our machinery lacks is consistency in doing such crucial jobs, that if not accomplished claims more lives. The job is not just about hospitals, but extends to all structures that need to be protected from deadly fires.

Two years ago, the Marol hospital incident was the trigger for keeping the then government on its toes. Now, the Bhandara incident will be a reason for the system to ramp up preparedness. However, history says that things are forgotten very fast and we get back to square one. The Bhandara hospital had submitted a fire safety proposal in May 2020 but the approval is still pending. What's more, it is also said that the neonatal unit became operational without having the requisite fire compliance some five years ago. These are all matters for investigation and fixing the onus for the failure. Inquiries into such incidents don't really make any impact. Making some less relevant officials and staff the scapegoat won't help in the long run. Our hospitals, especially state-run ones, could be made safer with a sustainable and uniform effort. It will require a statewide plan to be implemented within a deadline. Of course, it would need substantial funds. Honesty in expenditure should ensure quality work.

Spending money alone wouldn't help. Today's hospitals are no less than industrial units. They have life-saving equipment, incubators, oxygen suppliers and very many diagnostics and clinical equipment that needs regular maintenance. Profit-making corporate/private hospitals don't really compromise on such measures. Public hospitals do lag behind for many reasons, the main being financial. Short-staffed public hospital employees may lack training in meeting emergencies. Faulty equipment is reported on a regular basis but cold responses from higher ups discourage self-driven, self-motivated staffers.

Need suitable training

Experts say that the special care units where critical patients are put on machine support are most vulnerable, if the employees, doctors and nursing staff, working there aren't trained properly in using the equipment and reporting malfunction, if any. The eyes of the users shouldn't skip an electrical spark and rusted wiring, say experts, adding that major problems are detected and corrected before disaster strikes if the users are trained to be alert. At the outset, the blame is shifted onto the hospital staff, which is totally wrong if complexity of the problem is considered. On a bigger canvas, we can see involvement of so many people coming from the political class, administration branch and the professionals hired to do a particular job that goes kaput. The unfortunate incidents in Bhandara, Marol and elsewhere in the country are no exception. We can stop the fire from raging in the hearts of the bereaved parents only if we can stop more innocent lives from being taken mercilessly in the ghastly Bhandara-like incidents.

Dharmendra Jore is political editor, mid-day. He tweets @dharmendrajore

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