By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Alarmed by the recent devastating fire at the AMRI Hospital in Kolkata, which claimed 93 lives, the Meghalaya Government has directed all the hospitals of the city to prepare a ‘hospital safety plan’.
The directive was made during a meeting convened by the East Khasi Hills District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Monday which was attended by representatives of various city hospitals including both government and private.
While admitting that the hospitals in the State are not yet ready to face any major fire incident or disaster, the DDMA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) DM Wahlang said, “The ‘hospital safety plan’ is a step towards preparing the hospitals to handle any major disaster.
“Having the hospital safety plans in place has become more relevant after the AMRI disaster. We cannot continue to overlook the importance of having the necessary facilities in hospitals,” Wahlang said.
DDMA CEO said the hospital safety plan would be submitted to experts who shall study it in detail.
Informing that the Government has already prepared the ‘hospital safety plan’ for Shillong Civil Hospital, Ganesh Das Hospital and Nazareth Hospital, Wahlang said the same were at present being examined by a team of experts.
The DDMA CEO said the administration had suggested installation of the retro reflective tapes in the floors of the hospitals which would act as an indicator about the emergency exit and important points of the hospital at the time of an emergency.
He said all the managements while agreeing to install fire alarm and smoke detectors in their hospitals, sought time till March 2012 for installation of both the equipments.
Wahlang informed that a mock drill would also be organised on fire service preparedness of hospitals in the last week of January in one of the hospitals.
DDMA CEO further informed that there would also be a review of the electricity of the hospitals by the PWD Electrical wing.
During the meeting earlier the hospital representatives have suggested on the need to put in place to team of experts who would advise the hospitals on the measures which is required to be taken to face any major fire incident. They also emphasized on the need to have regular training to the staff of the hospitals on disaster management.