1

Knowledge about fire safety measures among health care professionals of tertiary care

hospital in coastal south India

Dr. Ramesh HollaAssistant Professor Department of Community MedicineKasturba Medical College, MangaloreManipal University, India

2

Introduction

• Health care setups are particularly high risk zones for fires because of the chemicals, materials and other consumables used.

• Hospitals have a hundreds of patients, visitors and Health care professionals, all of whom are at risk in case of a fire.

• The World Health Organization (WHO) and National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH) have set benchmarks for progress of health industry of which Fire Safety Standards has been given prime importance.

• However, hospitals may be well equipped with all the gear required to combat a fire emergency, but lack of knowledge among the staff regarding its usage will prove it futile.

3

Objectives

• To assess the knowledge of health care professionals (HCP) about fire safety measures in tertiary care teaching hospitals.

• To determine the application of existing knowledge in case of fire emergency.

4

Materials and MethodsStudy setting: The study was carried out at tertiary care teaching hospitals of coastal south India.

Study design: Cross sectional study

Study population: Health care professionals (HCP) comprising of doctors and paramedical personnel working in the above mentioned hospitals and who had a minimum experience of 1 year in the hospital.

Sample Size: The sample size was calculated assuming 50% of health care professionals are aware of fire safety measures to be adopted in a fire accident. Taking 10% absolute precision and 95% confidence level the sample size was found to be 95. Adding 10% as non response error, final sample size was calculated to be 105.Study duration: February 2015.

5

Materials and Methods (Contd…)• Tools for data collection: Self-administered semi-structured

questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of socio-demographic details of participants, awareness, perception regarding fire safety measures.

• Data collection methodology: Approval was obtained from the Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC) before commencement of the study. Questionnaire were distributed to the HCP selected conveniently and requested to fill after explaining the purpose of the study and after obtaining the written informed consent.

• Data Analysis: The collected data was analyzed using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) Version 16.0. Descriptive statistics like mean, proportion and standard deviation have been used to express results.

6

Results

7

Table 1:Baseline characteristics of study participants (n = 111)Baseline Characteristics Number Percentage

Age group (Years)20-30 64 57.7

31-40 26 23.4

41-50 16 14.4

>50 05 04.5

SexMale 58 52.3

Female 53 47.7

Health care professionalsDoctors 72 64.8

Paramedical personnel 39 35.2

Work experience (Years)≤ 5 86 77.5

>5 25 22.5

8

Result (Contd…)

• 69.4% of individuals are aware of the nearest fire escape route in case of fire emergency.

• 59.5% of individuals are aware of the correct number to be called in case of fire emergencies.

• 67.6% of individuals are aware of the location of the nearest fire extinguishers and 44.1% of the individuals are aware of the nearest fire alarm.

• In case of a fire, 86.5% of the study participants would activate the fire alarm, 94.6% would call the fire department and 64.9% would use the staircase furthest away from the fire.

• It was observed from the present study that only 51% of the study participants knew how to operate a fire extinguisher.

9

Type of Fire Type of Fire Extinguisher to

be used

Frequency of Correct

Response

Percentage

Class A Fires: wood, paper, textiles, etc.

Pressurized Water

54 48.6

Class B Fires: oil, paint, grease, etc.

Carbon Dioxide 24 21.6

Outdoor Fires Dry Chemical Powder

08 07.2

Table 2: Distribution of study participants according to correct usage of fire extinguishers (n=111 )

10

Table 3: Perception of HCPs towards cause for fire accident and fire safety measures (n=111)

Statements Agree

n (%)

Disagree

n (%)

Not sure

n (%)

Inefficient checks of electric safety lead to an electrical fire.

98 (88) 4 (03) 10 (09)

Water should be used to put out an electrical fire.

17 (15) 68 (61) 26 (23)

Electrical defects are one the major causes of fire in hospitals

97 (87) 06 (05) 09 (08)

Human negligence such as inattentiveness and smoking in the hospital is a major cause of fire in hospitals .

61 (55) 28 (25) 22 (20)

In order to help a person on fire, one should cover him with a blanket to diffuse the flames

93 (84) 09 (08) 09 (08)

In order to help a person on fire, one should pour water on him/her.

43 (39) 39 (35) 29 (26)

11

Conclusion

Even though knowledge regarding cause for fire accident and fire safety measures were found to be good among health care professionals, the application of this knowledge for the type and correct method of using fire extinguishers was found to be minimal.

12

Limitation

Due to limited time constraint, practical assessment of knowledge regarding fire emergency management could not be done.

Recommendation

• Mandatory fire management training should be provided to all the health care professionals in hospitals.

• Mock drills on fire safety should be conducted periodically.

Thank you