Fire in hospitals - time to act

[vibha naik]

Hi.

You all must have heard about the fire in one of the private hospitals in Hyderabad early this week. This plush multispeciality setup was inaugrated by Late YSR Reddy. Retrospectively, lot of issues are being held against the hospital management which include - illegal construction of one complete floor, no major fire safety precautions, only one staircase (though there were many lifts), etc.
http://english.ntdtv.com/ntdtv_en/ns_asia/2010-02-04/878157053675.html

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Courting+Disaster&artid=vBR|MbnWG3w=&SectionID=xAV59odivTs=&MainSectionID=xAV59odivTs=&SEO=&SectionName=BUzPVSKuYv7MFxnS0yZ7ng==


This followed the news of a smaller fire breakout in one of the biggest referral centers in Kolkata
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata-/Fire-in-operation-theatre-of-Kolkata-hospital/articleshow/5530891.cms

Another case report of fire in the operation theatre - On the morning of 17 August 2002, during an urgent caesarean section (LSCS) a fire occurred. The fire occurred immediately following the use of an electro-surgical unit (ESU) to coagulate a blood vessel. A woman received full thickness burns to 16% of her body. The fire was fully extinguished by the staff present. Once extinguished the caesarean section was completed and the baby safely delivered. The baby was in-utero and unharmed. No other persons present received any injury. The fire was a result of alcohol vapour from the skin preparation escaping from a crease in the drape and being ignited by a correctly functioning electro-surgical unit.

This puts us to the question - Are we prepared to manage fire in our setups?

To ponder on.....

 

Dr Vibhavari Naik, MD
Consultant Anesthesiologist,
Smile Train Project,
Nizams Institute of Medical Sciences,
Hyderabad, India.
E-mail: vib...@yahoo.co.in
Mobile: +91 9959189958

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