Learnings from AMRI Hospital tragedy

We woke up in the morning of December 9th with the horrific news of AMRI Hospital fire incident in Kolkata that claimed 91 lives. This makes us think about the necessity of emergency response plan in our hospitals. This tragic event poses a question about hospital safety preparedness in Bangladesh. Statistical data shows that the total number of hospitals in Bangladesh is 1683. Of these 678 are government hospitals and 1005 are non-government ones. Of a total of 346 private hospitals and clinics registered with the Directorate of Hospitals and Clinics, 142 are established in Dhaka. Most of the private hospitals in Dhaka city are air conditioned without having adequate ventilation facility. In the case of AMRI hospital, lack of proper ventilation system caused many patients to suffocate to death. The hospital building was centrally air-conditioned, and there was no ventilation channel for the smoke to come out. Let us think how we can make our hospitals safe. First, the hospital should prepare an Emergency Response Plan where all employees including doctors and nurses, and affiliated personnel will be involved with an emergency response. Second, every big hospital should have a fire officer trained in latest fire-fighting techniques. Third, smoke detection mechanisms need to be periodically scanned. Fourth, inflammable articles like chemicals and medical wastes should be kept in safe storeroom. Finally the hospital must have a Fire Alarm signaling system. The fast growing small and ill-maintained diagnostic centre, nursing homes and hospitals have been making huge profit in the name of providing best medical services, but the profiteers never spend a small part of their profit to install fire-fighting equipment and to train doctors and employees for tackling an emergency in case of fire or earthquake. It is time we learned a lesson from the AMRI Hospital tragedy. Habib Torikul E-mail: torikku0516@yahoo.com