By Express News Service BENGALURU: Fire accidents have claimed the lives of many and left some others scarred due to burn injuries. However now, Beyond Carlton — the country’s first citizen-led fire-safety initiative — has submitted a memorandum to the Government of Karnataka to set up burn wards in every government hospital of Karnataka. Beyond Carlton was formed by Uday Vijayan, a month after he lost his son in the Carlton Towers fire accident on February 23, 2010. The memorandum submitted to the government focused on setting up of a burns ward in every government hospital in the state and to direct every private hospital in the state to have a dedicated burns unit to provide emergency care. It suggests setting up skin banks across the state to assist the treatment of serious burn injuries, expediting the utilisation of the National Programme for Prevention, and Management of Burn Injuries (NPPMBI) budget for setting up burns wards, formulating a training programme for healthcare service providers to treat such injuries, and ensure the availability of trained healthcare professionals across the state. Sharing the details of the fire statistics brought out by the National Crime Records Beaurau (NCRB), Govt of India recently, Uday Vijayan, Managing Trustee and President, Beyond Carlton said, “As per the NCRB reports, in 2018, a total of 13,099 cases of fire accidents were reported in the country and about 13,397 cases in the year 2017. As many as 12,748 people died in the year 2018, which means that about 35 Indians die in a fire every day.” Vasanthi Hariprakash, Member, Executive Council, Beyond Carlton said, “While we are pleased that Karnataka is one of the few states to set up a one-of-its-kind skin bank, we are also aware that a singular skin bank cannot address the healthcare needs of the entire state. Hence, having a burn ward is necessary in every district of the government hospitals.” They revealed that the Centre had formulated NPPMBI to establish burns wards in government hospitals countrywide where a budget of Rs 450 crore has been earmarked as part of its 12th five year plan. Seventy-five per cent of the cost of setting up the burn wards in every state will be borne by the Centre and the balance 25% by the state. However, it was learnt that the utilisation certificate for the allocated budget of 450 crore has not been furnished yet and that only burns ward in Mysore Medical College and Hospital has been set up in Mysuru city.

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