Death in hospital fire: On operational fitness of hospitals

There can be no greater betrayal than when people consider it a safe haven. The sheer number of hospital fires in the country in the last few years, taking the victims to their most vulnerable, may be a case of criminal negligence and apathy. at least news of the death of four children A fire broke out in the special newborn care unit of Kamala Nehru Children’s Hospital in Bhopal on Monday. In early November, 11 patients killed in fire at COVID-19 ward in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra. 10 people died in March this year Fire breaks out at Sunrise Hospital in Mumbai, These are only the latest in a series of hospital fires that have, by some estimates, killed more than 120 people, most of them COVID-19 patients. There have been several minor and major fires in hospitals, the first of which caused property damage and concern for patients and their loved ones, while the latter proved fatal to patients, but also to some hospital staff. In most of these cases, the hospital staff also had to watch for immediate transfer of patients to other safer units.

The link that has been made between increasing hospital fires and the burden of COVID-19 cases is not artificial. Hospital administrators and forensic analyzes have historically determined the cause of the high number of cases that hospitals have had to deal with. With the number of cases rising in the first and second wave of the pandemic, demand has far exceeded capacity. Hospitals tried to expand their facilities to accommodate as many patients as possible, while there was hardly any time to expand the infrastructure. While beds and mattresses could be marshaled at short notice, and oxygen cylinders, sometimes, with excessive effort, hospitals could not add additional power lines, or distribute the load with additional transformers or power units. . Ventilators were also pushed from 24 to 7 usage, certainly not the norm before COVID-19, and with the high power requirement for this, it naturally pushed existing infrastructure into overdrive. Single air conditioner units were also running full time. These resulted in an electrical short circuit, and possibly aided by the presence of flammable materials – alcohol-based sanitisers, high oxygen and PPE kits – that sparked a full-scale fire. It is imperative for hospitals to take over their share during COVID-19 to conduct not only fire safety audits, but also electrical audits, to ensure operational fitness, and in particular, to ensure that no Do not fire States may mandate it, or encourage such a process, to prepare priority lists for small and medium-sized hospitals. Ultimately, hospitals must remain healing zones, and a non-negotiable requirement to ensure that fire accidents are avoided.