Visit Medical College Hospital at your own risk

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state-run Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital (MCH), refuge for hundreds of patients and one of the busiest hospitals in the state, has been functioning for the past six decades without any sort of safety measures.It is the old block of the hospital, housing the casualty wing, 24 general wards, 32 pay wards, intensive care units, four operation theatres and laboratory, that has been functioning with zero measures to fight fire. Not only does it lack fire-fighting equipment, but the building also lacks emergency exits.Hundreds of patients, bystanders, doctors, nurses and other staff of the hospital would have to rely on the crowded corridors, if such an emergency ever arose."No mishaps have occurred here to date. Hence, the authorities have not found it necessary to install any safety equipment,’’ said an administrative staff of the hospital on condition of anonymity. He also said that no mock fire drill was conducted at the hospital for over a decade.Earlier, at least the staff of the security wing were made to undergo training sessions in fighting fire. But now, that too has stopped."No requests in this regard have been forwarded to the government either, as far as I remember,’’ the source, who has been working at the hospital for the past 16 years, said. It is a government hospital and it is up to the government authorities to take the decision, he added.Meanwhile, Dr Mohandas, the Superintendent of MCH, said that there is no need to panic on the lack of safety equipment at the hospital."AMRI Hospital had a closed ventilation system, being a centrally air-conditioned one, which made matters worse when the fire broke out. But in the case of the MCH old block, the building has numerous ventilators that reduces the possibility of a massive fire outbreak,’’ he said.Sree Avittom Thirunal Hospital, which is also as aged as the old block of the MCH, shares similar conditions when it comes to the safety aspect. However, the other institutions on the campus, including the Regional Cancer Centre, the new super specialty and casualty blocks and the Sree Chitra Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology and the Medical College, are equipped with safety equipments.