Recently, a fire erupted in Sir Ganga Ram Hospital’s nursery. It was said to be due to a spark in a ventilator’s wire. An infant died in the unfortunate incident.

This wasn’t the only incident of its kind. In fact, the very same unit has a history of electrical short-circuiting that caused fires in at least two other instances, in the last few years.

The Medical Superintendent (MS) of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital Dr Fayyaz Butt claims "an electrical audit has been ordered, and soon the problems pertaining to electrical maintenance should be resolved."

He adds that the "on-duty staff members, doctors, and rescue team members responded swiftly and, hence, were able to prevent more casualties from occurring." Unfortunately, one infant could not be saved because she was too close to the fire source and lost her life before the rescuers could reach her.

Sir Ganga Ram isn’t the only government hospital in Lahore that has to contend with issues routinely triggered by the age-old cable wires. Earlier, there have been fire inside Services Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU), a pediatrics nursery, a store room, and a medical unit -- all resulting from a spark in one cable wire or the other. It seems the Services administration finally took note and made necessary changes by installing enough fire extinguishers, creating emergency exits, and training the hospital staff to deal with such terrible incidents.

Sir Ganga Ram clearly lags behind when it comes to proper training. Butt says, "Proper training is definitely important but the staff knew how to operate a fire extinguisher and cut off the electrical and oxygen supply to the unit."

Whether it’s the CCU, ICU, or pediatrics nursery, oxygen supply is available in almost every unit and ward. The old, unreliable electrical wiring when put together in close proximity to the high oxygen availability makes a combustible combination. Fortunately enough, the oxygen supply can be cut off by turning a valve. However, it does not take away from the risk which is far greater because the people can be seriously injured or lose their lives as a result of a fire caused by an unforeseeable spark.

The MS of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital confirms that "in a meeting with the health minster it’s been decided that a separate mothercare unit with its own pediatrics nursery and ICU would be constructed on an area spanning 22 kanals."

Presently, the facility has four gynae units but even these become overcrowded at times. "There could be up to 700 patients visiting a gynae OPD at any given day. The number of patients is on the rise, but the space remains the same. Hospitals do not expand parallel to the cityscapes," adds the hospital admin.

Building a new unit is a logical decision. In the new unit, fresh wiring shall be installed and it is also likely that proper fire exits would be created.

However, the old staff member would still require basic training, and the fire extinguishers would regardless be needed at the existing outdoor units. Even though there are signboards, emergency exits, and fire extinguishers in the emergency block, there seems to be a dearth of fire safety measures in the outdoor units.

Fire safety cannot be taken lightly, considering there have been several incidents where fire caused havoc at a hospital unit. Catering to one unit is not going to be enough. Attention must be paid to all hospital wings, and any safety loopholes visible must quickly be resolved. The MS of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital states: "In panic ridden circumstances it is difficult to remain calm. However, we must also realise that by fueling tension we only slow down the rescue process. This incident has caused much tension but the hospital admiration has started working proactively towards improving the safety measures."

It seems the hospital authorities understand the need for improvement and development, and it can only be hoped that they sincerely start working towards making these changes possible.