The staff members of Sahid Nirma Mahto Medical College and Hospital and Central Hospital of BCCL including nurses, ward boys, doctors, sanitation workers and administrative members underwent a two-hour fire mock drill on Monday.

The fire mock drill has been launched at the instruction of Dhanbad Deputy Commissioner Uma Shankar Singh. It will be conducted in all 30 Covid treatment facilities of the district including nine government and 21 private hospitals.

The training was conducted under the guidance of district fire officer Surendra Yadav. He explained the process of alarm operation, stopping central AC, isolating power supplies and evacuation of patients from the hospital in case of a fire emergency.

“We have explained various steps right from the beginning of discovery of fire to calling the fire service, operating existing fire safety devices, assembling staff and doctors outside the building and evacuation of patients,” said Yadav to The Telegraph Online.

“With regard to evacuation of bed patients to a place of safety we explained operation of 2 and 4 handed lifts, fireman’s lift, blanket removal, putting patients on wheelchair, removal of patients downstairs and removal by stretcher with or without wheels,” said Yadav.

“Specific use of different kinds of material like foam, dry powder, carbon dioxide and fire blanket for fighting were also explained,” elaborated Yadav.

According to the schedule prepared by the District Disaster Management Authority, the training will be conducted at Sadar Hospital Dhanbad and Divisional Railway Hospital on Tuesday and at Asharfi Hospital and Asian Dwarkadas Jalan Super speciality hospital on Wednesday.

The Fire Safety Audit of Patliputra Nursing Home and Pragati Nursing Home will be conducted on May 6.

A fire safety audit of 20 private hospitals engaged in Covid treatment was conducted by the district fire officer and according to the report portable fire extinguishers were installed in several private hospitals which lacked the amenity.