Odisha hospitals to obtain fire safety clearance certificates

All government hospitals in Odisha will have to obtain fire safety clearance certificates from the fire prevention wing of the office of the DG (fire service) within one month, state's Health Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Naik said today.
"This is necessary to prevent the frequent fire mishaps in the hospitals", the minister said after reviewing yesterday's fire mishap in the cardiology department of SCB medical college and hospital here.
The minister also announced that the technical committee formed by the Cuttack collector to probe into the cause of Tuesday's fire shall have a third party expert member drawn from an independent agency for an unbiased finding.

The probe committee, formed by the district collector comprising the district fire officer, an electrical engineer, a civil engineer and a hospital staff to find the cause of the fire and suggest measures to prevent the same in future, has been asked to submit its report within seven days.
Worried over frequent fire mishaps and lack of fire fighting measures in government hospitals, the health minister at a high-level meeting here decided that the hospitals shall have fire prevention measures as prescribed in the National Building Code of India-2005.
Under this code, the hospitals must have at least two number of 4.5 kg capacity each of carbon dioxide extinguishers for every 1000 square feet floor area or part thereof, so placed as to be easily available within 30 feet.

The five-storied building that houses the cardiology department of the biggest referral hospital here had not a single fire extinguisher when the mishap happened on Tuesday afternoon.
The Building Code also specifies that the fire extinguishers should be kept in efficient working conditions by regularly repairing them and filled. The hospital staff should be sensitized by conducting mock drills periodically, so that the staff members could use them at the time of mishap without getting panicky.