A day after a massive blaze in the ICU of Ahmednagar civil hospital killed 11 COVID-19 patients, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Sunday said the state government will allocate funds for fire safety audits in all district hospitals and also work towards creating a post of ‘fire safety officer’ in each of these facilities.
Speaking to reporters after visiting the site of the tragedy, he said the need for fire safety audits of all district hospitals has been discussed and a decision was taken that separate funds would be earmarked for the purpose.
He also said that Rs 217 crore should be immediately sanctioned by the government to conduct the fire safety audits of such hospitals. “Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has given instructions to undertake measures to prevent such fire incidents. There is also a proposal to form a new post of ‘fire safety officer’ in each district hospital. Moreover, health workers will be trained to deal with such situations and activities like mock drills will be implemented,” Tope said.
The fire safety officer will monitor the fire safety-related aspects in all the government-run district, tehsil and rural hospitals, he added. The minister said that there is a need to think about what kind of material should be used inside intensive care units (ICUs) to avoid fire incidents.
“The aspect related to continuous screening of ICUs and other sections of hospitals has also been discussed,” he said.
Talking about the Ahmednagar hospital fire incident, Tope said officials have apprised him that prima facie, short circuit was the cause of the blaze. “A committee formed to probe the Ahmednagar fire tragedy has been asked to submit a report in eight days, following which action will be taken against the guilty,” Tope said.
The blaze erupted around 11 am on Saturday in the ICU ward, where 17 COVID-19 patients, many of them senior citizens and some on ventilator or oxygen support, were undergoing treatment. “After the fire broke out, the staff present there immediately used fire extinguishers to douse the flames, but due to the thick smoke, the fire extinguishers did not work effectively enough,” he said.
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