Hospital Fire Safety: A Critical Gap in India's Public Health Infrastructure
UPSC Relevance
Prelims: Disaster Management (Man-made disasters); Indian Polity and Governance (Public Health as a state subject).
Mains:
General Studies Paper 2 (Health & Governance): Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health.
General Studies Paper 3 (Disaster Management): Disaster and disaster management. Hospital fire safety is a specific and important topic under this.
Key Highlights from the News
Six patients died in a fire at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Sawai Man Singh Hospital, the largest government hospital in Jaipur, Rajasthan.
A short circuit is suspected to be the cause of the fire.
This incident highlights the poor state of fire safety systems in government hospitals in India and the negligence of staff. 🔥
Relatives of the deceased alleged that the hospital's fire safety equipment did not work, staff ignored warnings in the initial stages of the fire, and fled when the fire spread.
The government appointed a high-level committee to investigate the incident. Directions were given to register an FIR against the private agency contracted for fire safety.
This tragedy underscores the importance of disaster management in critical public infrastructure like hospitals.
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