Bhubaneswar: Even as inadequate fire escape infra and lapsed safety compliance certificates are said to be among the reasons behind the death of seven newborns in a tragic hospital fire in Vivek Vihar area of New Delhi Saturday, Odisha’s premier healthcare facility, AIIMS Bhubaneswar is learnt to have been functioning for nearly a decade now without a fire safety compliance certificate.
A top source in the Fire Services department told Orissa POST that authorities at the 978-bed super speciality hospital have been briefed about the same and asked to introduce adequate fire safety measures at the earliest so as to avoid any kind of mishap. The disclosures assume a special significance in view of the fact that the hospital is visited by thousands of patients and their relatives not only from Odisha but also from neighbouring states every day, and any kind of fire mishap would mean a high number of injuries and casualties. The City has already witnessed a devastating hospital fire in 2016 where around two dozen people died and over 120 were injured in what came as a wakeup call for healthcare facilities to look into the critical aspect of the safety of patients, other than providing care and treatment.
Sources said though the Fire Services department has set up a dedicated fire station on the premises of AIIMS Bhubaneswar, the hospital building infra is yet to have sanctioned fire safety norms in place. “This may render emergency response and patient evacuations difficult despite the presence of the fire tender,” sources added. When contacted, Fire Services Director General (DG) Sudhanshu Sarangi confirmed about the lapses on the part of the AIIMS-Bhubaneswar, and said, “We’ve told them about it, and they will be doing the needful soon.” An AIIMS-Bhubaneswar spokesperson said though the hospital has fire NoC, “We are upgrading our infra to become fully compliant as per set fire standards.” Sources said the three top government healthcare facilities in the state— SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack, MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur and VSS Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR) in Sambalpur— also have fire stations on their premises, while efforts are on to refurbish fire safety standards at these ‘old establishments’.
Most of the super speciality private hospitals in the City have become fire safety compliant in the aftermath of the 2016 fire, sources added. However, compliance in the case of medium and small clinical establishments in the state remains unclear, they said. Asked about the same, Sarangi said, the Fire Services department has already identified the safety at clinical establishments as its top priority area and launched an audit of all such places a fortnight back (much before the Delhi fire, or Rajkot gaming zone fire cases). “The audit is being conducted across Odisha and our district offices would be submitting reports to the respective CDMOs, Thursday. The CDMOs will be seeking compliance from the establishments,” he said.
On Friday, the DG is scheduled to make a presentation on the issue before the Chief Secretary. Sources meanwhile said of the 4,300-odd clinical establishments that are being audited, focus is laid on O&G and neonatal as well as paediatric clinics/hospitals which are often found to have scant, or minimal fire safety measures though their patients are the most vulnerable to any mishap, fire included. As per norms, any clinical establishment with 15 metres or above structure needs to have a mandatory fire compliance certificate for its operation.
DEBASISH PANIGRAHI, OP