Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Condoling the death of eight people in Jabalpur Hospital fire tragedy, the doctors in the state capital said that safety norms at the medical facility should be the top priority and should be regularly monitored. Lapses on part of authorities concerned - government as well as hospital management- should be strictly dealt with, they added. The social activists blamed the government for lapses and learning no lesson from the past fire tragedies. Unless the government holds officials guilty of culpable homicide for such man-made tragedies, such incidents would continue to occur, they added.
Fire at New Life Multi-specialty Hospital in Jabalpur claimed eight lives on Monday. The fire incident in Jabalpur hospital comes nine months after a major fire had broken out at Kamla Nehru Hospital in Bhopal in November 2021.
‘Multiple gates must at medical facilities’
Private Hospitals and nursing homes association general secretary Dr Anup Hazela stressed on ensuring multiple gates at medical facilities. “There must be multiple gates in the hospital premises for safe passage of patients and other staff in case of such tragedy.” Such tragedy exposes lapses on part of authority concerned, he added.
Speaking on the same lines, Dr Subhodh Varsney of Siddhanta Red Cross super speciality hospital too said that officials concerned should ensure that all the fire safety and other norms are in place. “The authority should regularly monitor and take stock of the safety norms in place at the hospitals. If the officials remain vigilant, there would be no lapses.”
‘Guilty officials escaped punishment’
Bhopal Group for Information and Action (BGIA)’s Rachna Dhingra said, “ In case of Jabalpur hospital fire, FIR has been lodged against directors and manager but what about Kamla Nehru fire in which newly born children had died in fire. How many officials were arrested then? So it is a double standard of the government. The government should fix the accountability otherwise such a tragedy will continue.”
‘No lesson learnt’
Public health expert Amulya Nidhi said that the state government has not learnt any lesson from past fire tragedies. The government has not punished any officials for lapses in safety monitoring. Safety norms should be top priority for the government in hospitals, she added.
‘Social commitment’
Chirayu Medical College & Hospital director Dr Ajay Goenka said the safety surveillance system at the hospital should be updated and special emphasis should be laid on strengthening safety apparatus. He, however, also stressed on social commitment. There should be commitment towards society in the mind of every one only then people will lend a helping hand to man in need during such exigencies. “If a hospital has four multiple gates and a fire tragedy occurs, believe me even trained doctors and nurses and other staff will be the first to flee through gates. Who will rescue the patients? So, commitment toward society is necessary,” said Goenka.
