Odisha hospitals seem to have not learnt anything from the fire incident in the Amri Hospital in Kolkata in August 2011 that killed as many as 92 patients. Had it been the case, the sorrowful incident would not been happened the SUM Hospital in Bhubaneswar on Monday evening killing 20 patients and injuring many.
Now, it is learnt that none of the nursing homes and hospitals in Sambalpur district has the NOC (no objection certificate) from the fire department. “Only two nursing homes of the town have applied for the NOC and, after verification, we advised them to comply with the shortfalls in fire safety aspects. They have not done so and we have not issued the NOC or the fire clearance from the department,” informed District Fire Officer (DFO), Sambalpur Rangadhar Acharya.
He said the department would force nursing homes and hospital to put in place adequate fire safety aspect.
What is astonishing is that the exact number of nursing homes and private hospitals operating in the district is not known to the department.
However, Acharya said only the Sanjeevani Hospital and the Vivekananda Hospital (now Sparsh Hospital), both situated in the heart of the town, had applied for the NOC. Others have not even felt necessary to do so. “While Sanjeevani is a petty old hospital, Vivekananda is a new one,” the DFO informed.
As per norms, any nursing home or hospital with 30 or more beds or with critical wards like ICU needs to take fire safety measures and, for this, they have to obtain NOC from the fire department. But not a single one has taken it so far though there are many hospitals and nursing homes of this status operating across the district, Acharya informed. This is also the case with the VIMSAR, Burla that has nearly 1,000 beds, ICU, PICU and NICU.
When contacted, Sambalpur Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO) Dr Kodanda Rao said the SUM Hospital incident is an eye opener for all the hospitals in the State. He admitted that none has been serious on this particular aspect. “But we will not make any such negligence henceforth and force nursing homes/hospitals to make fire safety arrangements as per the norms or else their registration will be canceled,” said the CDMO.
Fire safety apart, most of the nursing homes/hospitals are also committing criminal offences on the matter of disposal of bio-medical wastes. But all the departments have closed their eyes to this crucial issue, the reason best known to them.
Meanwhile, the VIMASR authorities called for an urgent meeting on Tuesday to make adequate fire safety arrangements, including an emergency exit door, in its ICUs.