All hospitals must have fire safety systems in place: Health Minister

Hyderabad: All the hospitals in the State, including government and private, should now have mandatory fire safety systems in place as the government is set to form ten teams to take up special drives and take action against the hospitals which do not follow fire safety guidelines.

The Health Minister C Damodar Raja Narsimha had a tele-conference with the officials on Saturday. The Minister expressed grief over the death of children in a fire accident in a hospital in Uttar Pradesh and said that such incidents are painful. The Minister asked officials to take steps to ensure all the government and private hospitals follow the fire safety guidelines. He asked the officials to take up searches in the hospitals and submit a report. He also asked the officials to form ten teams.

The Minister asked officials to start the exercise from the government hospitals. He said the teams should first visit the big hospitals like Gandhi, Osmania, Niloufer and MGM and check whether there are fire alarms, smoke detectors are installed.

Whether there is fire-fighting equipment or not and also check the expiry date of them. The hospital staff such as security and others should be trained on how to use the fire safety and fire dousing equipment. The Minister asked the officials to check the wiring in the hospitals and if there are old wirings, they should be replaced immediately with quality cables. The hospitals should have sign boards displaying DO’s and Don’ts on the hospital premises, the Minister said.

The hospital authorities should be in touch with the nearby fire station and regularly take up fire safety mock drills on the premises. There should be a fire evacuation plan in every hospital and the doctors, staff and other personnel should have knowledge about it. There should be sign boards in the hospitals displaying fire evacuation plans, the Minister said.