The Centre held a virtual meeting with States and Union Territories to assess their preparedness on heatwave preparedness and measures to prevent hospital fires during summer months.

The meeting held by Dr Atul Goel, DGHS, Union Health Ministry also discussed fire and electrical safety measures adopted by various health care facilities across the country.

States/UTs were urged to conduct follow-up reviews for ensuring dedicated Heat Stroke rooms, ORS corners and strengthening surveillance through Integrated Health Information Platform ( IHIP).
Notably, as per the long-range outlook forecast issued by IMD on 27th May, in June, above-normal monthly maximum temperatures are likely over most parts of the country, except in parts of the southern peninsular India, where normal to below normal temperatures are most likely.

Above normal heat wave days are likely over most areas of northwest India and adjoining parts of central India during the month.

It was informed in the meeting that the highest-level officials of all State/UTs were monitoring the situation stringently, as per a communiqué issued by the Health Ministry on Thursday.

“States like Madhya Pradesh have undertaken mock-drill exercises on fire-safety accidents in all government and private hospitals. Urban administration and engineering departments were coordinated for conducting mock drills regarding fire safety. Code Red Protocol has also been issued. Heat Wave Control rooms have been established in Odisha,” it said.

Delhi has also issued directives and SOP for fire fighting systems to all government and private hospitals, it said.

The Health Ministry said if fire NOC is not available even in smaller facilities, either in government / in private institutes, fire evacuation plans and firefighting systems have been made mandatory to be kept in place.

The directives issued to the State Health Departments include guidelines on strengthening health systems preparedness for heat-related illnesses (HRI), public health advisory with do’s and don’ts and IEC poster templates and joint communication from Union Health Secretary and NDMA and a communication from Directorate General of Health Services on health facility fire safety measures.

The others are a checklist for assessment of health facility and ambulance preparedness to prevent and manage health impacts of heat, and guidelines on emergency cooling for severe heat-related illnesses.