Firemen deployed in dedicated Covid hospitals to check fire incidents

BHUBANESWAR: The state government on Saturday deployed firemen at different dedicated Covid hospitals across the state to check any fire incident in the hospitals. Government took this decision in view of fire incidents that happened in Covid hospitals in other states.
Sukanta Sethi, chief fire officer, said they have deployed firemen at 46 dedicated Covid hospitals functioning in Odisha right now. “We have divided the 24 hours of the day into three shifts. We are deploying two persons for one shift at a hospital,” he added.
The officer said the fire staff will sensitize the hospital staff about the fire related issues. During any untoward incident related to fire, they will take quick response and immediately inform the nearby fire station, he added.
“We are also holding regular mock drills in these hospitals to sensitize the hospital staff and tell them to stay alert to avoid any fire-related incident. The firemen who are being deployed at the hospitals can also tell the medical staff about lacunae in fire safety measures,” he added.
On Friday, at least 13 Covid-19 patients in ICU had died and left 21 other patients injured after a fire broke out in a Covid hospital in the north of Mumbai. Similar incidents were already reported from Mumbai, Nagpur and some other places in Maharashtra before.
On September 21 last year, Sadguru Covid hospital at Jagatpur in Cuttack district caught fire. It had forced the evacuation of around 127 patients in an emergency action. Fortunately there was no loss of life or any injury to the Covid-19 patients undergoing treatment in the hospital. The fire was generated from the intensive care unit (ICU) block.
In February this year, fire was reported from Sun Hospital at Tulasipur area in Cuttack district. Around 12 patients had a narrow escape when the fire broke out at the hospital’s top floor.