THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary- October 19, 2016- Topic 2
The tragic death of at least 22 people
and injuries caused to dozens of others in the SUM Hospital fire in Bhubaneswar on Monday throws up the question: what lessons were
learnt from the AMRI Hospital fire in Kolkata that claimed over 90 victims five years
ago? Was the hospital fire fighting system activated immediately and were
emergency measures taken to evacuate patients? These and other aspects of the
incident must be addressed by an impartial investigation. If each deadly fire
in a medical facility provided lessons in hindsight, India’s hospitals should
be witnessing fewer events annually, with a sharp decline in casualties. That
would follow the global trend, as causes of hospital fires are understood
better, and regulations tightened for safety of patients, their families,
visitors and staff. There is also insight within the country on why fires in
hospitals could be particularly fierce. One study by IIT Kharagpur engineers
points to enrichment of the local environment by oxygen leaks, which sets off
fires in thin plastics. The National Building Code is specific, requiring
hospitals to have horizontal evacuation exits for bedridden patients and
sprinkler systems for structures of specified height, which would cover most
medical institutions.
Prevention of fires and emergency
response are not high priorities in India, viewed by the Centre as a municipal
function under State governments. With a steady decline in the enforcement of
urban regulations and building plans, fire risks have multiplied in public
buildings. It will take enormous political will and active judicial oversight
to enforce best practices and rein in violators. Meanwhile, patients and
visitors could get a modicum of risk protection and suitable compensation if
all institutions offering any form of medical care are compulsorily required to
be insured against disasters. Such a regulation would make a hospital insurable
only if it installs good quality fire warning and control systems. There are
reports that not enough could be done in the SUM Hospital fire to move patients
away quickly, as the blaze spread and affected vulnerable people receiving
intensive care. It is also believed there were not enough ambulances available
to shift the patients out. Such evacuation is not the responsibility of the
hospital alone, it is also the local administration’s. Looking ahead, the
Centre and State governments should address fire risk in medical institutions
as a top order priority. This can be achieved by understanding the hazard,
adopting the right infrastructure, enforcing the building code, and holding
frequent fire drills to do things correctly in an emergency.
Vocabulary
Evacuate: remove (someone) from a place of danger to a safe place.
Example: Several families were evacuated from their homes
Synonyms: remove, clear, move out, take away, shift; clear, empty
Impartial: treating all rivals or disputants equally; fair and just.
Example: Independent and impartial advice
Synonyms: unbiased, unprejudiced, neutral, nonpartisan, nondiscriminatory
Hindsight: understanding of a situation or event only after it has happened or
developed.
Example: With hindsight , I should never have gone
Fierce: having or displaying an intense or ferocious aggressiveness.
Example: As women, we need to accept that we can be fierce, cunning, and predatory
Synonyms: ferocious, savage, vicious, aggressive
Bedridden: confined to bed by sickness or old age.
Example: It saved his life but left him severely disabled: unable to speak,
bedridden , and paralysed for eight months before he died.
Synonyms: confined to bed, sick in bed, laid up, immobilized, flat
on one's back
Sprinkler: a device that sprays water.
Example: There was a water sprinkler to wash down the streets after the market.
Enormous: very large in size, quantity, or extent.
Example: Her enormous blue eyes
Synonyms: huge, vast, immense, gigantic, very big, great, giant, massive
Rein: check or guide by pulling on its reins.
Example: He reined in his horse and waited for her
Blaze: a very large or fiercely burning fire.
Example: Twenty fireman fought the blaze
Synonyms: fire, flames, conflagration, inferno, holocaust, forest
fire