Fire Hazards In Hospital: Where Lies the Solution

The risk of fire in the hospitals of Bangladesh has increased due to the pressure in the ICU during the coronation period. The health department has asked all hospitals and clinics about fire protection systems in the country, but there are no signs that the risk of fires has been reduced. 

The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Tangail General Hospital was rendered useless in a fire on Thursday (July 15th). As soon as the fire broke out, panic spread among the dying patients undergoing treatment in the 10 beds of the ICU. However, no casualties were reported in the blaze. 

The hospital's residential medical officer (RMO) Shafiqul Islam said a fire broke out in a bed of a high-flow nasal cannula at the intensive care unit at around 3.15 pm. Hospital staff immediately tried to extinguish the fire by spraying carbon dioxide from the fire extinguisher. Immediately after the fire, the relatives of the patient kept running and shouted, causing panic in the hospital campus. Relatives and hospital staff quickly evacuated the patients.

Earlier, on March 17, four patients died in a fire in the ICU of the Corona unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Five people died in a fire at the Corona unit of the private United Hospital in May last year Besides, a fire broke out at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital in the capital in February 2019. However, no casualties were reported.

According to the fire service's 2019 data, 97 percent of Dhaka's hospitals are at risk of fire. The question arises as to where the people will go if the hospital where they go to save their lives is at risk of fire.

According to the law, the hospital building is to be constructed with more than 30 arrangements. Notable measures include--the location of the hospital, the size of the floor used, the width of the general stairs in the hospital building, the arrangement of the stairs for firefighting, the number and width of the emergency exit stairs; arranging safety lobbies on each floor; Emergency exit marking and verification of building roof tinshed, keeping an eye on the number and width of the stairs to the roof; Opening the roof doors and arranging the exit doors of the building; keeping underground water reserve tanks (50,000 gallons), having an overhead water tank of 10,000 gallons, keeping concealed wiring of electrical wires; keeping the main switch box, switch box junction box and demand box of the electrical board in a safe position; keeping circuit breakers on every floor and room; ensuring employees’ training in firefighting, rescue and keeping all paths including stairs free, etc. But there are allegations that most of the hospitals are being run year after year without complying with these conditions.

According to the fire service, a total of 21,074 fires were reported across the country last year (2020). Of these, 90 fires broke out in different hospitals and clinics. In the previous year, i.e. in 2019, there were 24,000 fire incidents in the whole country. Among them, there were 778 fire incidents in hospitals and clinics. However, the fire in the ICU during the corona has raised concerns. 

Director of the Department of Health (Hospital and Clinic) Farid Hossain said, "The risk of fire in the ICU of the hospital has increased during the corona period." The main reason for this is the increase in load. Because of the high flow nasal cannula in the ICU, the oxygen pressure there is much higher. So even a small spark catches fire. That's what happened at Dhaka Medical College. "

"In many cases, patients do not have the capacity to carry the load now," he said. Electric lines are not able to take the load. There is a risk of short circuit However, this condition of hospitals is not new. According to the fire service, 422 out of 442 hospitals in Dhaka are at risk of fire. As a percentage, it is 97.5 percent Even if fire service notice is given to these hospitals, not much work is done. The list includes 249 at 'General Risk' and 173 at 'High Risk'. Dhaka Medical College Hospital is a government hospital on the 'very risky' list. There are 20 more big government hospitals in Dhaka city on this list. In February 2019, a fire broke out at the 'very risky' Suhrawardy Hospital as well.  

"We give them new notices every year," said Saleh Uddin, assistant director of the fire service of the Dhaka division. We cannot take any action against them directly. We let them know through the ministry. "

"The fire safety of the hospitals is in a very bad state," he said, “The condition of all public and private hospitals is the same. There is no such thing as fire safety in many hospitals. But fire safety is mandatory in every hospital. "

However, the fire service authority said it had no information that the fire at the hospital had increased during the Corona. According to them, the fire safety of the building is related to the National Building Code. However, the fire safety of the building in which there will be more combustible material should be so good.  What reason the building is being used for is very important in determining fire safety.  

Former Director-General of Fire Service Brigadier General (Retd.) Ali Ahmed Khan said the fire risk would be reduced if the hospital's power lines and fire safety lines were maintained regularly. Most hospitals have ICUs on nine or ten floors. We recommend that ICUs be brought downstairs. It will be easier to remove patients in case of danger.

Experts say the authorities need to monitor whether the construction of the hospital follows the law. If you do not follow the rules, you have to take strict action. Patients who come to the hospital are in a dying and at-risk condition. They are more vulnerable than ordinary people during disasters. Therefore, the concerned people think that special attention needs to be paid to the patients at this time. Doctors and staff need to keep an eye on this. Employees also need to know how to get patients out of the building in the event of a fire.