Firefighting facilities missing at public hospitals

Lack of safety measures, trained firemen jeopardise the lives of patients under treatment

KARACHI:

Patients undergoing treatment at a hospital hope for a speedy recovery and a safe return home. Yet while the former can be probable in the presence of qualified doctors, the likelihood of the latter occurring is questionable, considering the devastating state of fire management arrangements at most public health facilities.

Reportedly, major government hospitals and primary health centres across the city, including the Jinnah, Civil and Abbasi Shaheed Hospitals have no effective fire-fighting facilities, with missing fire extinguishers, emergency exits, fire buckets and a fire alarm system.

Saeed Jadoon, an expert in rescue and fire services, told The Express Tribune that according to the principles of firefighting, it was important for hospitals to have a fire and rescue department since oxygen stores could instigate a deadly fire breakout.

"When the fire comes into contact with oxygen, it spreads more rapidly. Therefore, building firefighting services should be mandatory in hospital buildings alongside displaying signs for emergency exit routes. Furthermore, the electricity system in hospitals should be upgraded since most of the fire incidents in hospitals occur due to short circuit. Apart from this, all hospitals must also have large water tanks for water storage," urged Jadoon.

Jadoon also recommended that patients with reduced mobility should be kept on the ground floor so that in case of a fire breakout, they could be safely rescued through emergency routes. "Big hospitals should also have a helipad so that patients can be rescued immediately. Unfortunately, there are no fire safety and rescue arrangements at the government hospitals of Karachi. For this reason, when fire incidents occur, it is difficult to control them," added Jadoon.

According to data obtained from the government hospitals in Karachi, 15 incidents of fire were reported during the past two years, one of which occurred at the Sindh Government Liaquatabad Hospital due to a short circuit, claiming the lives of five people.

"Even after this incident, the health authorities did not learn any lesson. Even when fire extinguishers are available in the hospitals there is no staff to operate them, while at other times the fire extinguishers are expired," commented Jadoon.

Commenting on the matter, fire brigade officials at the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) confirmed that government hospitals and medical centers in Karachi did not have firefighting facilities. "Therefore, KMC provides its services in case of fire emergencies. However, these hospitals are located in congested areas with heavy traffic due to which fire tenders have difficulty reaching there," claimed the official from KMC.

The spokespersons of the Jinnah and Civil Hospitals claimed that their facilities had fire extinguishers in all departments and the staff was also being trained gradually, in light of the directions of the Health Department of Sindh.

On the contrary, officials from the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Sindh Government Liaquatabad Hospital and the Sindh Government Saudabad Hospital confirmed that fire safety arrangements were meagre in their hospitals.

"During the rainy season, water entering the electric lines, causes incidents of short circuit to occur. After the incident of fire at the Sindh Government Liaquatabad Hospital in February 2024, orders were issued by the Health Department of Sindh to the heads of all hospitals to install fire extinguishers. After that, fire extinguishers have also been installed in our hospital and most of the hospital staff have been trained by experts to use these devices," said Dr Pir Ghulam Nabi Shah Jilani, Medical Superintendent at the Sindh Government Saudabad Hospital.

On the other hand, officials from the Health Department of Sindh claimed that fire extinguishers were being gradually installed in Karachi's government hospitals and the cooperation of the relevant institutions was also being sought to improve this system.