On April 18, 2023, a fire accident occurred in the east building of the inpatient department of Beijing Changfeng Hospital, resulting in 29 unfortunate deaths, including 26 patients. We all know that hospitals are highly populated places, and patients are often in a weak state or have limited mobility. Once a fire occurs, people are always passive and have no time to think or even escape, making it very easy for mass casualties to occur... After reviewing some major fire experiences and lessons over the years, "learning from the past" and avoiding fires has become a common responsibility of the entire society.
Hospitals were originally places for treating illnesses and saving lives, but who would have thought they would become places of death. After investigation, it was found that the fire accident at Beijing Changfeng Hospital was caused by improper operation during the decoration project, resulting in sparks that ignited flammable substances and caused the fire. This major fire not only shocked people, but also made them ponder whether this disaster could have been avoided. We always sound the alarm bell and learn from our mistakes, but we also relax our vigilance in the immense pain caused by fires, allowing them to take advantage of loopholes. Just like these infrastructure that we usually don't notice, they can also harm people in critical moments.
On August 13, 2018, a fire broke out at Taipei Hospital in New Taipei City, Taiwan, resulting in 9 deaths, 11 serious injuries, and 4 minor injuries. The ignition point of this fire is located in the nursing home on the 7th floor of the hospital building. It is reported that the cause of the fire is suspected to be the burning of a sponge mattress in the ward; On January 8, 2022, a fire broke out at Hengyang Laiyan Hospital on Wuyi Road in Shigu District, Hengyang City, Hunan Province, resulting in 6 deaths and 8 injuries. The burned area was about 300 square meters, and the direct economic loss was about 7.795 million yuan. According to the investigation, the direct cause of the accident was that the third floor of the building where the fire occurred was an illegal building, and it did not go through planning approval, fire design and fire acceptance filing, and did not handle property rights procedures. The ceiling was illegally built with foam sandwich color steel plates. In addition, there are a large number of clothes and blankets on the beds of the elderly and patients, and the dripping burning substances ignite the beds and cause fires. Moreover, the elderly and patients have extremely low ability to move independently and cannot self rescue in a timely manner, resulting in casualties... We often say that we must firmly establish the concept of "safety first, prevention first". As a public medical institution, hospitals not only need to provide high-quality medical services to patients, but also must ensure public security and personal safety within the hospital. These bloody lessons all remind us to pay attention to every detail of hospital infrastructure, to conduct regular inspections, promptly repair and maintain problems, in order to play a role in critical moments and avoid tragedies from happening again!
In short, avoiding fires is the common responsibility of the entire society, and any negligence or lax management by an individual may lead to major fire accidents. We should strengthen cooperation among all parties, fulfill our own responsibilities, and jointly promote the continuous improvement of fire prevention and emergency management to ensure public safety and the safety of people's lives and property!
