KARACHI, Feb 22: Almost all the ward buildings at the century old Civil Hospital Karachi lack extremely important safety facilities, including fire escapes and fire extinguishing equipments, this has been realised lately by senior doctors and managers of the hospital.

The CHK’s Board of Governors in its latest meeting resolved that old buildings of hospitals should be retrofitted with fire escapes on a priority basis to ensure faster evacuation of patients and attendants as well as doctors and paramedical staff in an emergency.

The CHK has over 45 departments and patient wards, with a capacity for about 1,900 in-house patients. In addition to patients, doctors and nurses, about 4,000 people visit or attend patients daily.

A source privy to the BOG meeting said that the source for raising concern among the participants was last week’s fire incident in the PNSC building, which compelled them to think about the absence of proper fire escapes.

If the route to the regular exit is blocked by fire what will happen to the patients and their relatives, it is beyond comprehension, said a doctor, viewing that all wards, which are three or four-storey should have special kind of emergency exits, affixed to the buildings exteriors.

It was decided in the meeting that the issue would be taken up with Works and Services Department.

The BOG meeting was presided over by the Chairman Abu Shamim M Ariff and was attended, among others, by Additional Secretary Health Manzoor Memon, medical superintendents of CHK and Lyari General hospitals Dr Kaleem Butt and Khawaja Mukhtar respectively, Abdullah Feroze, Abdul sami Khan, Saeed A B Mirza, Mrs Kauser Pervaiz, Prof Nargis Soomro and Prod D S Akram.

Concern was also expressed over the fact that the entire CHK had only one lift for patients.

The meeting was told that the janitorial services on contract basis will be started in the coming month. The Home department of the Sindh government will be approached to ensure proper and permanent security arrangements for CHK and LGH.