Smoke Management Scenario in Hospital Fires

Healthcare facilities are always safe and secure place to get treatment for the general public. In general, healthcare facilities are well-equipped to deal with external disasters, but situations caused by internal risks are more serious and frequently necessitate an emergency evacuation of the facility. Fire incidents are one of the most significant potential risks in healthcare settings out of all hazards. Fire safety rules are usually given less attention, primarily during the building design process, the goal being to meet the bare minimum criteria. In North India, an incident occurred at a tertiary care institute's radio diagnostic setup. The fire caused panic among both staff and patients. There were approximately 150 people at the casualty site, including staff, patients, and their attendants. Immediately following the confirmation of the fire incident, the fire department and security department responded with fire control and smoke evacuation. Even though six fire handling staff required minor emergency services for asphyxia caused by smoke inhalation and were only cured by oxygen support, none of the patients was affected by timely smoke evacuation by smoke control methods. Smoke management techniques commonly include compartmentation, pressurization, dilution, ventilation, buoyancy, and airflow. As a result, we concluded that timely smoke evacuation and preventing the spread of smoke through various methods help to reduce smoke-related fatalities. The training programmes and mock drills provide stakeholders with the necessary knowledge, skills, and practice to protect patients and employees.