Thiruvananthapuram hospitals shrug off fire norms

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In-patient sections of hospitals are the most vulnerable to a fire outbreak. But a walk through Thiruvananthapuram General Hospital and Medical College Hospital will explain that hardly any action has been taken to secure their premises, particularly old ones.

Various state governments woke up to the need for securing them when 89 died in a fire at a Kolkata hospital in 2011. Earlier this month, 20 people were killed in a private hospital in Bhubaneshwar.

Most wards of General Hospital are old single-floored tiled buildings. Though fire prone, the evacuation can be a piece of cake in every section.

However, administrative building, casualty, laboratories and other comparatively new multi-storey buildings have no static firefighting devices or even basic fire extinguishers.

The scenario is much complicated at Medical College where only the new super speciality block conforms to fire safety norms. The OP block daily frequented by patients has poorly maintained sprinkler system on most of its block. Rest of the hospital including causality, OTs, observation, SAT wards and MCH wards are sitting ducks.

“They do not let people smoke or cook here, so chances of human-made fire are less. However, there has been a history of blown up air-conditioner and short circuits can happen. We have fire-prone equipment and server rooms which do not have big exits in case of a fire,” said a resident surgeon.

As in standard procedure, some private hospitals have common assembly areas, internal firefighting systems and trained officials, apart from smoke detectors and sprinklers in the wards.

“We have different emergency codes like a cardiac arrest or fire that will be announced through loudspeakers. Our permanent security staffers are trained in basic firefighting,” said officials of a private hospital at Killipalam.

Kerala Fire Force Act obsolete

An archaic Kerala Fire Force Act that does not give importance to the prevention of fire remains a blot on the fire fighting forces in spite of changing urban environment.

The  Act of 1962 mostly revolves round the responsibilities and rights of firemen. On the other hand, Acts made by other states have been periodically amended with focus on prevention.

For instance, the Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Rules, 2009 stipulates that government can give licence to private agencies to help the owners of both public and private buildings to conduct fire audit. Based on their recommendations, safety mechanisms should be installed.

During surprise checks, if the devices are missing or found to be poorly maintained, fines can be levied. Even water and electricity connection can be snapped. State-wide checks are often conducted during fire outbreaks anywhere in  the state.

“Unfortunately our Act is too obsolete and does not tell anything about providing licence to private entities for audit. We surely welcome all those who seek the help of such entities,” said  Mr A.Hemachandran, director- general, Fire and Rescue Services.