Hospital fires, a serious concern

A fire tragedy in a hospital is always heart-breaking. Victims are usually very sick people who are unable to run for safety as they are bed-ridden or in the intensive care unit. What makes the tragedy in the hospital in Maharashtra’s Bhandara district all the more disturbing is that the victims were new-born babies; some of them were just a few hours old. Not only were they helpless but they had just entered the world, only to have their lives snuffed out by a fire. Ten new-born babies died in the early hours of January 9 when a fire swept through the Bhandara district hospital’s Special New-born Care Unit (SNCU). No amount of monetary compensation from the government or reassuring words from leaders will ease the pain and grief of the bereaved parents and other kin of the victims.

A short circuit is believed to be the immediate cause of the blaze. Initial investigations reveal lapses on the part of the Maharashtra government as well as hospital authorities. Apparently, the hospital was poorly equipped with fire extinguishers and staff were not trained in the use of equipment. Neither were mock drills being conducted periodically to check staff awareness of standard operating procedures. Government officials were lax too. The Bhandara hospital’s proposal for a new fire safety system in the hospital was reportedly gathering dust in government offices. The hospital was just around five years old, so wiring and fixtures were new. But were they of good quality? And was the no-objection certificate for the building issued after a close examination of the quality of the wiring? Hospitals are vulnerable to fires. Storage of oxygen cylinders in building basements and piped oxygen to rooms enables a spark from a short-circuit to become a raging fire. Over the past year, India has witnessed several fire tragedies in hospitals. While some of these fires can be attributed to the Covid-19 chaos, which may have left overworked hospital staff with little time for maintenance of equipment or basic facilities, there were instances too of hospitals having been set up overnight to profit from the pandemic. The latter paid little attention to safety norms. Fire accidents followed.

The growing frequency of fire tragedies in hospitals is a reason for serious concern. While staff on the ground must be taken to task for negligence, government officials, building contractors and hospital authorities are not being held accountable. It is their failure to prioritise public safety over profits that is to blame for the tragedies. They must be penalised.