After the Barzulla blaze DAK for fire audit of all hospitals in Kashmir
By: Muzamil Bhat CK
Srinagar
After the unfortunate fire incident at Bone and Joint Hospital of Barzulla, Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) on Saturday has appealed to the government that they should go for a fire safety audit of all the hospitals in the valley.
The fire incident at Barzulla has shaken the patients and attendants as they had a narrow escape due to the efforts of locals and volunteers.
In order to save the patients and attendants from any future tragedy, DAK has said that the government should immediately review the safety measures in all the hospitals especially in SMHS and SKIMS so that tragedies are averted in future.
According to the DAK statement “The fire safety audit of hospitals should be done immediately to ensure safety and security of patients and staff”.
“Yesterday’s fire at orthopedic hospital is a wakeup call,” he said.
Dr Hassan said it is imperative to conduct safety audit of hospitals to prevent such incidents in future.“If we are admitting patients, we need to keep them safe,” he said adding “patient safety should be of paramount consideration.”
The DAK President said we need to ensure that fire fighting measures are in place at health institutions to provide safe environment to patients.
“We need to identify gaps if any, and fill them on priority,” he added.
“Every hospital needs to have trained dedicated staff to maintain the fire safety standards,” said Dr Nisar.
He said the hospitals are required to carry out periodic mock drills for which participation of fire brigade officials and disaster management is mandatory.
“On Friday evening, a massive fire broke out in Bone and Joint hospital in Barzulla area of Srinagar district which damaged the infrastructure and machinery of the prestigious orthopedic center of the valley,” said Dr Arshad Ali General Secretary DAK.
He said it was with the help of local volunteers that patients were evacuated in time and shifted to other hospitals which saved precious lives.
“Firefighting personnel did a commendable job. They battled hard to bring the blaze under control,” he added.
