Pune: The day after the massive Kobala in the ICU Ahmednagar civil hospital killed 11 Covid-19 patients, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Sunday said the state government would allocate funds for fire safety audits in all district hospitals and also worked to create Post ‘fire safety officers’ in each of these facilities.
Speaking to reporters after visiting the tragedy site, he said the need for fire safety audits from all district hospitals had been discussed and the decision was taken that separate funds would be for this purpose.
He also said that Rs 217 Crore must be immediately approved by the government to conduct a fire safety audit of the hospital.
“The Chairperson of the Minister of UDDHAV Thackeray has given instructions to take steps to prevent the fire incident.
There is also a proposal to form a new post ‘fire safety officers’ in each district hospital.
In addition, health workers will be trained to handle the situation.
Activities such as drill mock will be implemented, “Tope said.
Fire safety officers will monitor aspects related to fire safety in all districts managed by the government, hospitals and rural areas, he added.
The minister said that there was a need to think about what type of material to use in the intensive care unit (ICUS) to avoid fire incidents.
“Aspects related to ICU screening and other hospital parts have also been discussed,” he said.
Talking about the fire incident of Ahmednagar Hospital, Tope said officials had told him that the prime facie, short circuit was the cause of the flames.
“The committee formed to investigate the Ahmednagar firefighting tragedy has been asked to submit a report in eight days, after which action will be taken against the guilty,” Tope said.
Blaze erupted around 11am on Saturday at Ward Icu, where 17 Covid-19 patients, many of them senior citizens and some on the support of ventilators or oxygen, were undergoing treatment.
“After the fire broke out, the staff present there immediately used a fire extinguisher to extinguish the fire, but because of thick smoke, fire extinguishers did not work effectively,” he said.