‘Dedicated fire team should be mandatory at every hospital’
LUCKNOW As many as 195 private and state-run hospitals in Lucknow underwent a fire safety audit as part of a weeklong pan-UP drive conducted by the fire department from December 20. Majority of them were found to have no dedicated team to handle fire safety equipment, and the department recommended that such teams be made mandatory at all health care centres.The exercise came in wake of the fire incident at SGPGI’s operation theatre area that claimed lives of two patients on December 18.“Only a handful of big hospitals have dedicated teams for controlling fire situations. Such teams should be made compulsory in every hospital,” said said Mangesh Kumar, chief fire officer, Lucknow, adding that the department plans to make it compulsory for hospitals to have specialist team for fire safety. “Several awareness drives were conducted. Hospital staff and doctors, among others, were taught to deal with unprecedented fire-like situations,” he said. A few prominent hospitals where the drive was carried out included KGMU, SGPGI, RMLIMS, Sahara hospital, Balrampur Hospital, among others. The exercise was undertaken after DG (fire service) Avinash Chandra ordered a statewide survey and awareness drive during a high-level meeting with chief fire officers of various cities. “Having a dedicated team would save valuable time, which goes in calling the fire station,” he added.
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LUCKNOW As many as 195 private and state-run hospitals in Lucknow underwent a fire safety audit as part of a weeklong pan-UP drive conducted by the fire department from December 20. Majority of them were found to have no dedicated team to handle fire safety equipment, and the department recommended that such teams be made mandatory at all health care centres.
The exercise came in wake of the fire incident at SGPGI’s operation theatre area that claimed lives of two patients on December 18.
“Only a handful of big hospitals have dedicated teams for controlling fire situations. Such teams should be made compulsory in every hospital,” said said Mangesh Kumar, chief fire officer, Lucknow, adding that the department plans to make it compulsory for hospitals to have specialist team for fire safety.
“Several awareness drives were conducted. Hospital staff and doctors, among others, were taught to deal with unprecedented fire-like situations,” he said.
A few prominent hospitals where the drive was carried out included KGMU, SGPGI, RMLIMS, Sahara hospital, Balrampur Hospital, among others.
The exercise was undertaken after DG (fire service) Avinash Chandra ordered a statewide survey and awareness drive during a high-level meeting with chief fire officers of various cities. “Having a dedicated team would save valuable time, which goes in calling the fire station,” he added.
