Outdated fire extinguishers at the district civil hospital

Aurangabad, Jan 12:

Fire extinguishers play an important role in controlling fires in a timely manner. But expired fire extinguishers have been hanging on the walls of the district civil hospital (DCH) for the past two years. Fortunately, no untoward incident has occurred in the last two years.

Thousands of Covid-19 received treatment at the DCH. Prior to that, since June 2018, patients with various ailments have also been taking treatment. But there is clear neglect in providing a safe environment for patients in the hospital. The fire extinguishers here have expired two years ago. The hospital has 79 fire extinguishers. The hospital administration on October 12, 2020 has submitted a proposal of Rs 1.10 lakh to the higher office for refilling. But no action has been taken on this proposal. Now after the Bhandara accident, preparations have been started to refill these machines.

No training to staff

The hospital staff needs to be trained to handle fire extinguishers regularly. But this is clearly being ignored at DCH. A mock drill was held in June 2018. Training is required for all every 6 months to a year. But no training has not been done since then.

The process is underway for the refilling of fire extinguishers at the district hospital. Correspondence has been sent in this regard. All machines will be refilled soon, said Kamlakar Mudkhedkar, additional district surgeon.