Üsküdar Üniversitesi ÜSGÜMER, the Occupational Safety, Occupational Health and Environmental Health Application and Research Center, held the 35th session of its '1 Topic 1 Guest' event online. The guest of the program, which focused on "Fire Safety in Hospitals," was Chemical Engineer, Class A occupational safety specialist Lecturer Abdurrahman Ince. Ince stated, "Buildings constructed for other purposes cannot be converted into hospitals." He added, "Unfortunately, we see that happening. We see many buildings constructed as hotels being used as hospital buildings."
"Buildings constructed for other purposes cannot be converted into hospitals"
Ince, who has been working on fire safety in hospitals for many years, said; "Hospitals are the most risky buildings against fire. Especially in hospital buildings, fire safety measures must be taken during the design phase. Buildings constructed for other purposes cannot be converted into hospitals. Unfortunately, we see that happening. We see many buildings constructed as hotels being used as hospital buildings. So many qualifications are required for a building to be a hospital that the project needs to be viewed through the eyes of a fire expert, along with other architects, at the design stage, even before groundbreaking. Doing these things later is as difficult as demolishing and rebuilding structures. Therefore, buildings should be designed as hospital buildings during their design phase." he stated.
"Access and accessibility to fire departments are also important for us"
Ince continued by emphasizing the great importance of hospital locations; "While considering hospital insulation safety, access and accessibility to fire departments are also important for us. How many minutes can the fire department get here? From which facades can it be accessed? How many kilometers away is the nearest fire station? How long can it reach even in heavy traffic? Such information is needed by hospital administrators. Information on the second and third nearest fire stations must be recorded in the plans of hospital and emergency managers." he stated.
"The real danger in a fire is smoke and toxic gas"
Ince stated that the main danger in a fire is smoke and toxic gas; "When we consider fires involving smoke, toxic gases, suffocation, and poisoning, a large majority of injuries and deaths result from the smoke and toxic gases produced by the fire. Both employees and users of the building in hospitals are healthy people. However, in hospitals, patients exposed to a fire of the same magnitude lack mobility. Therefore, the risk in hospitals is very high. For this reason, internal fires must absolutely not occur in hospitals. Measures required by regulations and standards must absolutely be taken." he stated.