Over 97 percent of the private and public hospitals and healthcare centres in the capital lack adequate fire safety measures, according to findings of a fire department inspection report.
Of a total of 433 healthcare providing establishments surveyed, 174 were found to be highly risky (with no fire safety necessities), 248 risky (with some fire safety measures installed) and the rest satisfactory (mostly compliant with some negligible lapses).
Many well-known hospitals are in the list, the findings revealed.
Most of the hospitals and clinics have been set up at residential buildings without basic fire safety provisions, putting patients and attendants in danger, said Maj AKM Shakil Newaz, director of Fire Service and Civil Defence, while explaining the findings of the fire safety inspection report.
The fundamental safety provisions that the hospitals lack include evacuation ramp, fire exit plan, fire detection and alarm systems, hose reels, safe refuge assembly space, trained in-house firefighting team, fire escape route, fire lift, accessible road and water reservoir, he said.
A blaze at such hospitals and clinics will result in innumerable deaths and those taking treatment at intensive care units, coronary care unit and orthopaedic department would be the worst victims, said the director.
Almost all of them lack the vital escape ramp, he said, adding that the hospitals do not have designated fire-protected staircase for exit and evacuation.
As per Bangladesh National Building Code, fire exit route must be designed in such a way that it is unobstructed and protected against smoke and heat with fire-rated doors, fitted with mechanical ventilation, connected directly with the road outside the buildings for easy access and exit.
Besides, the hospitals and clinics are vulnerable to extreme fire hazards due to stockpiles of oxygen, chemicals and other highly flammable materials that help a fire turn into an inferno.
The residential buildings are in no way safe and suitable for running hospitals that have a large number of people round the clock, Shakil said.
As per the building code, one staircase has to be dedicated for fire escape for up to 50 occupants of a building, two for 100, three for 500 and four for 1,000 and more, he said, adding that it is a minimum requirement and is in addition to the one meant for day-to-day use.
Asked what steps they would take, the director said they had given the errant hospitals and clinics a month's deadline for installing fire safety equipment. Legal actions would be taken against those who would fail to install by the end of March.
“We will declare such establishments as risky for public use,” he said. Those who would make efforts to install safety measures might be given some __more time.
“However, we'll not allow hospitals and clinics at residential buildings as it is absolutely unsafe and illegal unless the entrepreneurs legally convert the buildings for the purpose,” Shakil said.
Brigadier General Ali Ahmed Khan, director general of Fire Service and Civil Defence, said after the deadline they would officially request the health directorate and the ministry to take legal actions against errant hospital and clinic authorities.
They would also request Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha to take legal actions against the illegal use of residential buildings for hospitals, and the two Dhaka city corporations to have their trade licences cancelled, he said.
According to the report, out of 20 hospitals in Gulshan, Baridhara and Badda, only two have satisfactory fire safety equipment. All 25 in Eskaton, Segunbagicha, Kakrail, Shahbagh, Wari and on Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue are found risky.
Only five out of 38 in Mirpur, Kafrul, Pallabi, and on Rokeya Sarani have fire safety facilities. The rest are risky.
As many as 58 out of 66 in Mitford, on Johnson Road, Keraniganj, Shanir Akhra, Sayedabad, Jatrabari, Jurain, Kadamtoli, Dholairpar, Postogola, Matuail and Demra are found highly risky. Only one hospital there has fire safety equipment.
None of 19 in Tejgaon, Moghbazar and Mohakhali is found safe. In Uttara, all 27 hospitals are risky.
All six in Dhaka cantonment, Kurmitola and Khilkhet are found risky. Out of 87 in Savar and Ashulia, 84 are found unsafe.
All 74 in Kalabagan, Panthapath, Dhanmondi, Agargaon, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Shyamoli and Mohammadpur are found risky. Similarly, all 35 in Demra, Khilgaon, Rampura, Shahjahanpur, Mugda and Malibagh are risky.
All 36 in Kamrangirchar, Hazaribagh, Lalbagh, Azimpur and Hatirpul are found risky.
Against the global standard of one firefighter for 2,000 people, Dhaka city has one for four lakh people, fire officials said.
Major Shakil said they need __more firefighters, modern training, logistics and direct appointment of high officials to better tackle fire incidents.
There are some 7,000 firefighters in the country, he said, adding that firefighters often remain morally down with just two promotions in 35 years. Those having equal status in the armed forces, police and BGB get six promotions, he noted.