GRDS International Conferences

1. Knowledge about fire safety measures among
health care professionals of tertiary care
hospital in coastal south India
Dr. Ramesh Holla
Assistant Professor
Department of Community Medicine
Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore
Manipal University, India
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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.
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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.
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4. Materials and Methods
Study 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. 4

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. 5

6. Results
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7. Table 1:Baseline characteristics of study participants (n = 111)
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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
Sex
Male 58 52.3
Female 53 47.7
Health care professionals
Doctors 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.
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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
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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)
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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 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.
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12. Limitation
Due to limited time constraint, practical assessment of
knowledge regarding fire emergency management
could not be done.
Recommendation
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• Mandatory fire management training should be
provided to all the health care professionals in
hospitals.
• Mock drills on fire safety should be conducted
periodically.

13. Thank you