Many hospitals operating ICUs sans fire safety NOC

Overheating of equipment and ACs make the units vulnerable to accidents, say officials

June 03, 2021 12:38 pm | Updated 12:38 pm IST - VISAKHAPATNAM

A fire hose enclosure without the reel at a government hospital in Visakhapatnam.

A fire hose enclosure without the reel at a government hospital in Visakhapatnam.

At a time when the health infrastructure is crumbling under the load of coronavirus patients in need of emergency care , the Fire Services Department officials fear the possibility of accidents as many hospitals including those being run by the government are yet to obtain the mandatory no-objection certificate (NOC).

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in March last year, the country has seen close to 25 fire accidents in various hospitals in different cities, of which 14 were reported in the ICU units where COVID patients were undergoing treatment.

In Visakhapatnam city, there are about 2,000 ICU beds in 80 hospitals, including about 900 under the State’s control . Sources in the Fire Services Department say that a majority of over 20 government hospitals including the CHCs do not have the NOC.

According to the officials, the overuse of ACs and electrical gadgets are to be blamed for fire accidents in the ICUs. Given the severity of the pandemic, the ICUs are over-stressed. The units are full of electrical gadgets with the air-conditioners being run continuously. All the doctors and nurses don PPE kits made up of synthetic material and use of alcohol-based sanitisers make the ICUs vulnerable to fire accidents, they say.

“Most of the fire accidents in ICU units have occurred due to overheating of electrical wires or use of sub-standard MCBs (miniature circuit breakers) leading to short circuits. We need an electrical and fire audits of all healthcare facilities,” says a senior officer.

It is learnt that the staff in many hospitals are not trained to handle eventualities and there is no full-time electrician present to handle the equipment. Members of ISHRAE (Indian Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers), say that at least two full-time electrical experts should be present in the ICUs to ensure the use of ACs on a rotational basis and electrical gadgets are not overheated.

Violation of safety norms

Sources in the Fire Services Department and the fire wing of the GVMC say that some hospitals have equipment in place, but the staff are not trained to handle them. “Some hospitals did not even have fire extinguishers. We had to provide the equipment from our stock,” says another officer.

“The hospital, however, can recruit technicians to ensure that the equipment are rotated and the wiring are checked regularly, he adds.

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