Following mid-day's week long series on how civic hospitals are fire traps, orders go out to make all facilities fire-compliant
mid-day's safety audit exposed fire hazards at major hospitals. File pic
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A day after mid-day completed its week-long safety audit of Mumbai's biggest hospitals and exposed major fire hazards at all of them, the BMC has swung into action to address the lapses. Its health department has roped in the fire brigade to carry out a joint inspection of civic hospitals, and a full report is expected in a fortnight. Meanwhile, officials have already removed expired fire extinguishers for refills. Last week, the BMC administration called a meeting of officials from the Fire and Disaster departments to address the lapses in fire safety at civic hospitals.
Sent for refills
This paper had found that major hospitals, namely KEM, Nair, JJ, Cooper, Rajawadi and Sion all had expired fire extinguishers on display, and at most places, the exit routes were blocked - all the makings of a fire disaster. Taking mid-day's reports into cognisance, the authorities have already sent all the extinguishers for refills, even as officials carry out inspections to identify other hazards. The BMC had already started the same process a few days ago at KEM, which was the first hospital to be audited by this reporter.
Official speak
Dr Avinash Supe, director of major BMC hospitals, said, "We held a meeting with the health and fire departments regarding the safety of all hospitals. We have taken steps regarding this, and a circular has also been issued to the heads of departments across all hospitals. All the expired fire extinguishers have been removed and will be reinstalled within a week.
"The health department has tied up not only with the fire brigade, but also the disaster department, which has already started taking rounds to ascertain fire safety at hospitals. The fire department will help us to check all parameters and a report will be submitted to higher authorities."
Crisis training
Besides replacing all faulty equipment, the authorities will also train hospital staff to handle any kind of mishap or disaster. "We have received a circular regarding fire safety at the hospital. We have been instructed to inform the authorities of any lapses in our department, like expired fire extinguishers, hanging wires or the absence of sand buckets. Also, the authorities plan to provide fire safety training to all medical staffers, starting from Class IV employees to the heads of departments," said a senior doctor from KEM hospital.
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