Officials of the AP State Disaster Response and Fire Services (APSDRFS), in association with the Electrical Inspectorate Department, on Monday organised an awareness-cum-training programme for COVID hospitals’ technicians on prevention of fire mishaps.
The programme was aimed at taking steps to prevent electric short circuits, evacuation of patients from general wards and ICU and on regular checking of electrical connections, said Fire Services Regional Fire Officer (RFO) G. Srinivasulu.
Participants focussed on electric failures which will lead to fire accidents in hospitals, loose connections, use of poor standard material, proper distribution of power to avoid overloading and ensuring of proper earthing, the RFO said.
“Ten fire accidents occurred in COVID Hospitals, including three each in Mumbai and Gujarat, one each in Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. A similar fire mishap occurred in a COVID hospital in Iraq. As per the case studies taken up by APSDRFS, nine mishaps occurred due to electrical failure,” Mr. Srinivasulu explained.
Deputy Chief Electrical Inspector Sunil Kumar explained how to prevent fire accidents due to failure in electrical circuits. He asked the hospital managements, electrical and sanitation staff not to store sanitisers near the electric boards and panels.
“Power fluctuations will occur due to overloading in early hours which will cause electric short circuits. Electrical engineers, supervisors, electricians and supporting staff should be alert during early hours,” Mr. Sunil Kumar said.
Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) RFO Uday Kumar explained how to shift patients with life support during fire mishaps.
District Fire Officer (DFO) M. Srinivas Reddy advised the COVID hospital managements to provide a safety room with good access on all floors for easy evacuation and to prevent human loss.
Additional DFO Sekhar and other staff participated.
