Fire safety measures: Awareness and perception of health care professionals in coastal Karnataka

Introduction: Globally more than three hundred thousand people die from burn related injuries. It is also one of leading cause for disability and deformities. Lack of safety consciousness, stringent laws and substandard household cooking equipments has led to the increase in incidences. Objectives: To assess the awareness of fire safety measures, among health care personnel in tertiary care teaching hospitals in Mangalore. Materials and Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted at two tertiary care teaching hospitals of Mangalore among 105 health care professionals. Data was collected by using the semi structured questionnaire. Collected data was entered and analyzed using statistical software SPSS version 11.5. Results: The study comprised of doctors (n=72, 64.8%) and paramedical personnel (n=39, 35.2%). Majority of the participants were in the age group of 20-30 years (n=64, 57.7%) followed by those were in the age group of 31-40 years (n=26, 23.4%). Most of the participants were aware regarding the activation of fire alarm (n=96, 86.5%) and contacting fire department (n=105, 94.6%) in case of fire emergencies. Less than half of the health care personnel (n=54, 48.6%) were aware that pressurized water has to be used in case of Class A fires. Usage of Carbon dioxide for Class B fires was known only to one fifth of study participants (n=24, 21.6%). Conclusion: The general perception regarding fire safety measures was found to be adequate, but the particulars regarding the type of fire extinguisher to be used in different fire mishaps was minimal among the health staff working in the hospital.