ISO
Letters to the Editor
Reply Dear Editor
1. At the outset I should thank the readers for their meticulous observations. This also indicates the interest the article has generated. 2. As regards the Cr PC & IPC sections (a) Section 539 Cr PC: Inadvertently the number has got printed as 539, it should have been section 39 Cr PC. Under this section "Every person aware of the commission of, or of the intention of any other person to commit, any offence punishable under" various sections of IPC shall in the absence ofany reasonable excuse.the burden of proving which excuse shall lie upon the person so aware, forthwith give information to the nearest Magistrate or police officer of such commission or intention. Naturally the section is applicable to medical officers too. (b) Section 175 ofCrPc: Deals with power of investigating officer to summon people. Reproduced from Cr PC it reads" A police officer proceeding under Sec 174 may, by order in writing, summon two or more persons as aforesaid for purpose of the said investigation. and any other person who appears to be acquainted with the facts of the case and every person so
summoned shall be bound to attend and to answer truly all questions other than questions the answers to which would have a tendency to expose him to a criminal charge or to a penalty or forfeiture ." (c) Section 202 IPC : Reproduced. it reads "Whoever. knowing or having reason to believe that an offence has been committed. intentionally omits to give any information respecting that offence which he is legally bound to give, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to six months , or with fine, or with both ." Naturally applicable to medical witness as well. 3. The authors fully agree that policy letter on this matter by PCDA Allahabad, would have been the ideal authority to quote. Office of PCDA has been approached for the same. The same will be published in MJAFI as and when received. 4. Appx 'B' - Dead Body Challan & Appx 'C' - Medico Legal Case Protocol have been provided at the end of the article. The headings' Appx B & Appx C' are only missing. Lt Col RB Kotabagi Offg Head. Department of Forensic Medicine, Armed Forces Medical College, Pune - 411 040.
FIRE! Dear Editor. "Veni, Vidi, Vici". This could be a good phrase for an old Roman Emperor. But Fire ! Oh! it just comes and conquers. It doesn 't see . It destroys everything including the fire fighting system. That is what happened in a hospital. The fire cordon party of that day, sneaked out and was watching a movie "Towering Inferno' in the nearby Video Parlour. when the fire broke out in the hospital ward. There was shaky, delayed defence by a few personnel including some of the fire fighting party , fire salvage party and the fire rescue party . The patients ran away. Some of them joined the fire fighting bravados. Nothing could be salvaged even by the salvage party . By the time, the fire cordon party, after their instant graduation into combat on inferno in a multistoreyed building came back from the thrilling block buster, the single storeyed ward complex was gutted into a heap of ash. What remained was a few charred cots in alignment with the Nightingale ward and a liberated fire ball on the corridor from its weak suspension. Fire fighting works only in well directed movies and well rehearsed hospitals. When the fire broke out, it was noticed a little too late by a patient who managed to run away along with other patients. Then the staff moved out, looking for the siren. They were not sure about its location . Their shouting of "aag-aag" was not intense enough to arouse any enthusiasm among the staff in other wards and departments. The fire point of the ward itself was on fire . By the time the fire fight ing force assembled and gathered the equipment, the fire had got into its irreversible momentum.
They watched the inferno in total helplessness keeping away from the flames, while the fire cordon witnessed the ultimate success in fire fighting at the Video Parlour. In many a time, hospital fire fighting ends up in a 'flop' mainly because of poor direction. There are water wells which are dry. Sand heaps are used up for landscaping. Hydrants have no pressure. The canvas hoses don 't reach upto the wards . The locations of the minor and major fire points are unknown to the staff. The equipment are not tested for functional status. The earmarked persons disappear in thin air. The drill movements are unclear. There are no rehearsals. A meaningful fire practice system can be evolved only when the whole organisation is oriented to the hazards of fire and administrators understand it. The conventional system of fire fighting will continue to stay with the Armed Forces for many more years till the multistoreyed modern hospitals would come up. They would have fire sensing system with automatic early warning connected to a rnultiactivator that would release alarm. open up emergency exits . move the elevators and extinguish the fire. That is far away . Till then, let us activate our own existing system and save our patients and ourselves. Fire creates panic. releases poison and bakes people .
Col Tommy Varghese Director MS, Dte Gen of Medical Services (Army), Adjutant General's Branch, Army Headquarters, 'L ' Block. New Delhi 110 001.
MJAFI, Vol. 59, No.2. 2003
Letters to the Editor
Reply Dear Editor
1. At the outset I should thank the readers for their meticulous observations. This also indicates the interest the article has generated. 2. As regards the Cr PC & IPC sections (a) Section 539 Cr PC: Inadvertently the number has got printed as 539, it should have been section 39 Cr PC. Under this section "Every person aware of the commission of, or of the intention of any other person to commit, any offence punishable under" various sections of IPC shall in the absence ofany reasonable excuse.the burden of proving which excuse shall lie upon the person so aware, forthwith give information to the nearest Magistrate or police officer of such commission or intention. Naturally the section is applicable to medical officers too. (b) Section 175 ofCrPc: Deals with power of investigating officer to summon people. Reproduced from Cr PC it reads" A police officer proceeding under Sec 174 may, by order in writing, summon two or more persons as aforesaid for purpose of the said investigation. and any other person who appears to be acquainted with the facts of the case and every person so
summoned shall be bound to attend and to answer truly all questions other than questions the answers to which would have a tendency to expose him to a criminal charge or to a penalty or forfeiture ." (c) Section 202 IPC : Reproduced. it reads "Whoever. knowing or having reason to believe that an offence has been committed. intentionally omits to give any information respecting that offence which he is legally bound to give, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to six months , or with fine, or with both ." Naturally applicable to medical witness as well. 3. The authors fully agree that policy letter on this matter by PCDA Allahabad, would have been the ideal authority to quote. Office of PCDA has been approached for the same. The same will be published in MJAFI as and when received. 4. Appx 'B' - Dead Body Challan & Appx 'C' - Medico Legal Case Protocol have been provided at the end of the article. The headings' Appx B & Appx C' are only missing. Lt Col RB Kotabagi Offg Head. Department of Forensic Medicine, Armed Forces Medical College, Pune - 411 040.
FIRE! Dear Editor. "Veni, Vidi, Vici". This could be a good phrase for an old Roman Emperor. But Fire ! Oh! it just comes and conquers. It doesn 't see . It destroys everything including the fire fighting system. That is what happened in a hospital. The fire cordon party of that day, sneaked out and was watching a movie "Towering Inferno' in the nearby Video Parlour. when the fire broke out in the hospital ward. There was shaky, delayed defence by a few personnel including some of the fire fighting party , fire salvage party and the fire rescue party . The patients ran away. Some of them joined the fire fighting bravados. Nothing could be salvaged even by the salvage party . By the time, the fire cordon party, after their instant graduation into combat on inferno in a multistoreyed building came back from the thrilling block buster, the single storeyed ward complex was gutted into a heap of ash. What remained was a few charred cots in alignment with the Nightingale ward and a liberated fire ball on the corridor from its weak suspension. Fire fighting works only in well directed movies and well rehearsed hospitals. When the fire broke out, it was noticed a little too late by a patient who managed to run away along with other patients. Then the staff moved out, looking for the siren. They were not sure about its location . Their shouting of "aag-aag" was not intense enough to arouse any enthusiasm among the staff in other wards and departments. The fire point of the ward itself was on fire . By the time the fire fight ing force assembled and gathered the equipment, the fire had got into its irreversible momentum.
They watched the inferno in total helplessness keeping away from the flames, while the fire cordon witnessed the ultimate success in fire fighting at the Video Parlour. In many a time, hospital fire fighting ends up in a 'flop' mainly because of poor direction. There are water wells which are dry. Sand heaps are used up for landscaping. Hydrants have no pressure. The canvas hoses don 't reach upto the wards . The locations of the minor and major fire points are unknown to the staff. The equipment are not tested for functional status. The earmarked persons disappear in thin air. The drill movements are unclear. There are no rehearsals. A meaningful fire practice system can be evolved only when the whole organisation is oriented to the hazards of fire and administrators understand it. The conventional system of fire fighting will continue to stay with the Armed Forces for many more years till the multistoreyed modern hospitals would come up. They would have fire sensing system with automatic early warning connected to a rnultiactivator that would release alarm. open up emergency exits . move the elevators and extinguish the fire. That is far away . Till then, let us activate our own existing system and save our patients and ourselves. Fire creates panic. releases poison and bakes people .
Col Tommy Varghese Director MS, Dte Gen of Medical Services (Army), Adjutant General's Branch, Army Headquarters, 'L ' Block. New Delhi 110 001.
MJAFI, Vol. 59, No.2. 2003
