At a time when the Centre has got a rap on its knuckles from the Delhi High court on the shortage of oxygen in hospitals in the national capital, the Union home ministry has shot off a detailed letter to all states and Union Territories asking for uninterrupted power supply to hospitals and medical facilities, especially those dedicated to treating Covid patients.
The ministry has also asked all hospitals and nursing homes to draw up a plan of action to avoid any fire incidents in such places.
The letter comes hours after a fire incident at a nursing home in West Delhi where around 26 patients were rescued averting a major tragedy on Tuesday night. But the incident rang alarm bells in the home ministry that is already firefighting the shortage of oxygen and medical supplies in the capital.
Under the disaster management act, medical emergencies and even fire safety drills are part of disaster management plans drawn up by states and UTs. The home ministry is the nodal ministry for disaster management policy.
In its letter, the MHA has drawn the attention of state and Union Territory governments towards the occurrence of fire incidents, caused by short-circuiting, in hospitals and nursing homes in the recent past.
In a communication to chief secretaries of states and administrators of Union territories on Wednesday, Union Home Secretary A.K. Bhalla said in the context of recent fire incidents and, particularly in view of the impending summer season, it needs to be highlighted that either because of high temperature, lack of maintenance or high load on the internal wirings within the facilities, short circuiting takes place, leading to fire incidents and consequential loss of life and essential infrastructure.
The communication further states that care should be taken to put in place a plan of action, to ensure that no fire incident occurs in any of the health facilities, particularly COVID-19 dedicated facilities, both in the government and private sectors.
The ministry has asked states and UTs to conduct a detailed review with officials from the health, power and fire departments, and prepare a detailed plan of action to ensure that fire safety measures are in place at all hospitals and health facilities.
“The states and UTs have also been requested to issue directions to the concerned officials at various levels, that heath facilities should be visited by field level officials, to examine internal wirings and availability of functional safety equipment as per fire safety guidelines, within these facilities, and necessary remedial action be taken immediately, in case any deficiencies are found,” it said .
It also drew attention to the recently issued advisory of the Director General (Fire Services, Civil Defence and Home Guards) in MHA on fire safety in hospitals and nursing homes. It said keeping in mind that a large number of COVID-19 cases are under treatment in COVID-dedicated health facilities across the country, oxygen-supported beds, ICU beds and ventilators are critical interventions and uninterrupted power supply on regular 24x7 basis, in all the hospitals and medical facilities is a necessity.
