Even as doctors in Ahmedabad are on strike today following stringent safety rules demanded by the Gujarat High Court, the Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services (AFES) informed the Gujarat HC that moving ICUs would require structural changes to the current buildings and as a result, the same cannot be insisted in the existing hospitals having ICUs. AFES was replying to directives ordered by the HC.
The Gujarat High Court ordered the state to take immediate steps to ensure compliance with an earlier order in December 2020 where the court had issued a number of directions to ensure fire safety in hospitals, especially for the ICUs following a fire at a commercial building in Ahmedabad on June 25, where 75 people were rescued, including 13 newborn babies housed at a neonatal hospital in the building.
Important to note here is that a division bench of the Gujarat High Court had issued instructions, such as requiring monthly service of heavy load equipment like ventilators and air conditioners, in a judgement dated December 15, 2020 in the same PIL.
The court had further ordered that ICUs should, whenever possible, be situated only on the ground floor and have backup exits with ample space to roll out the beds. The bench has stated that hospital building facades made of glass should not be tolerated under any circumstance and should be removed right away. Additionally, it had advocated for fixing officers with accountability and responsibility.
