Training on “Building Resilience of Health Facilities” concludes

29 October 2021

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Srinagar, Oct 29: Three days’ online training on “Building Resilience of Health Facilities” organized by Department of Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction, (DMRRR) Govt. of J&K; National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) and GeoHazards Society (GHS) from 27th to 29th October, 2021, concluded today. The training was conducted under the patronage of Major General M.K Bindal Executive Director, NIDM; Er. Aamir Ali Nodal Officer J&K SEOC and Dr. Hari Kumar Regional Coordinator, GeoHazards International; and under the guidance of Dr. Chandan Gosh, Professor & Head Resilient Infrastructure Division, NIDM.

Er. Aamir Ali, emphasized on the need for adopting a multi-pronged and interdisciplinary approach to enhance the capacity of the emergency medical response and mass casualty management in hospitals. The learning sessions were handled by eminent experts in fire, structural safety and practitioners in the field of disaster risk reduction.

R.C Sharma, Former Director, Delhi Fire Services spoke on the peculiarities of fire safety in hospitals especially electric fires.

V. Suresh, Ex-CMD, HUDCO and Chairman of the Indian Green Building Council elaborated on the importance of code compliant buildings and the green building norms to enable resilient hospitals.

Ms. Aparna Kanda, a human rights practitioner and a DRM enthusiast in her address urged to bring people, community and particularly the vulnerable groups to the centre-stage in all DRR activities.

The session by Dr. Poornima Prabhakar, Head of Centre of Excellence at Public Health Foundation India, illustrated the impact of climate change on communities and healthcare with key focus on the green and climate smart infrastructure. The session of Dr. Hari Kumar of GeoHazards Society, emphasized on understanding the hazards that can affect health facilities and the importance of keeping hospitals functional during and after disasters.

Dr. Amir Ali, Assistant Professor NIDM, during his keynote address on the final day stressed upon the participation of all stakeholders, the need to develop capacities, develop SOPs and DM plans and test the plans regularly.

The learning session that followed was delivered by Dr Lallu Joseph, Associate General Superintendent, Christian Medical College Vellore. She spoke about the preparation of fire evacuation plans especially in the COVID-19 scenario, and the importance of testing the plans through pre-announced and surprise mock drills.

Mohd Mudassir, DRR Expert from GeoHazards Society illustrated about the non-structural risk assessment and mitigation measures within hospitals, with special reference to earthquake risks, which are pertinent to a State like J&K, situated in a high-risk zone.

The sessions on all the three days were attended by a versatile group of participants, including senior District level Officers and Engineers from Government of J&K, Doctors from Health Department and Government Medical Colleges, students and staff from SSM College of Engineering Parihaspora, Pattan, and participants from other States, as well as abroad. The training was live-streamed on NIDM’s YouTube platform. Dr. Garima Aggarwal of NIDM expressed her gratitude that all sessions were excellent learning experiences and thanked the Panelists, organizers, GeoHazards Society and the participants for making the event productive and interactive.