20131107 India 14 patients saved but doctor killed in clinic fire
India Nov 06 2013 “Hospitals”
Dead : dead 1 to 4 Burnout : 0 or unknown Injured : injured 0 or unknown
14 patients saved but doctor killed in clinic fire
Updated: 2013-11-08-02:45
MUMBAI: Fourteen patients had a narrow escape when a fire broke out in a Mulund (West) nursing home before dawn on Thursday, but a young doctor could not be saved.
The blaze at Gokul Nursing Home, spread across the first floors of two adjoining buildings connected by a walkway, completely gutted the outpatient area, where Dr Rahul Rudrawar (27) from Beed was sleeping after duty. The flames could not cross into the wards and ICU across the narrow walkway, allowing relatives and staff enough time to take the patients out.
The owner claimed fire safety norms had not been violated. Many patients said they would have died if the rear exit had not been there. P 2
The blaze started around 3.05am at Gokul Nursing Home, which sits on the first floors of two adjoining buildings connected by a walkway. Flames quickly lapped up its outpatient consultation area, which is housed in one of the buildings, and gutted it completely. But, they could not cross the narrow walkway into the wards and the ICU in the adjacent building, where patients were sleeping.
Intensivist Dr Rahul Rudrawar (27) from Beed, who died in the blaze, had joined the nursing home recently on a temporary basis. He had retired to one of the cabins in the OPD area after admitting the last patient around midnight. Sources said the doctor probably got locked into the room, but the claim could not be confirmed.
Concerns over nursing homes, particularly in residential spaces, have been raised often since the 2011 fire at AMRI Hospital in Kolkata claimed 91 lives.
Gokul Nursing Home owner Dr Naresh Mehta said his healthcare centre did not flout fire safety norms as it had separate entry and exit points. He maintained that it had a fire no-objection certificate from the municipal corporation. “I reached the spot within minutes of hearing of the incident and saw to it that all patients were safe. We could not save the doctor though,” he said.
Most patients in the 20-bed nursing home were asleep when the fire broke out. Shahnaz Sarwaiya, the daughter-in-law of one of the patients, was the first to notice the flames and raise an alarm. Nurses and ward boys quickly jumped into action. Four of the patients were brought down the stairs from the rear exit in chairs, while the others climbed down on their own or with relatives’ help. They were shifted to the nearby Shraddha Polyclinic and Nursing Home in five ambulances.
“If not for the rear exit of the nursing home, we would have died,” said Bhimabai Mokul (55), one of the patients. She said the nursing home was evacuated in 20 minutes.
The fire brigade reached the spot at 3.25am as the patients were being removed. Around the same time, the flames reached a polyclinic and an IVF centre on the same floor as the OPD area, burning their ceilings. The second and third floors of the building are residential and the ground floor has commercial units. Sources said the wooden decor in the OPD area helped the blaze envelope it in 20-25 minutes. The entrance to the OPD area and its building was gutted as well.
Five fire engines, three water tankers and four hoses were used to douse the blaze by 5.15am. “We are probing the cause of the fire. Currently, we cannot say if it was due to short-circuit. We have to check if safety norms were followed,” a fire official said.
Websource:The Times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/14-patients-saved-but-doctor-killed-in-clinic-fire/articleshow/25398522.cms