Violations Detected in Medical Centers of Hrazdan, Martuni, and Sevan

Employees of the Kotayk Regional Division of the State Urban Development, Technical and Fire Safety Inspection conducted inspections at the "Hrazdan Medical Center" LLC on November 26-28, based on the directive No. 165-A issued on November 20, 2019. The inspections revealed numerous deficiencies and violations related to fire safety regulations.

In particular, the construction elements of the medical center's roof had not been treated with fire-resistant solutions or coatings, there was no external fire escape, and there were no metal grids installed around the perimeter of the building's roof. Additionally, there was no fire hydrant available in or around the facility's premises, nor was there a minimum fire pond of 50 m3 capacity. The fire hydrants connected to the internal fire water supply network lacked necessary fittings.

A relevant act was drawn up regarding the identified violations and was handed over to the director of the "Hrazdan Medical Center" LLC, L. Karapetyan. A corresponding order was also issued to rectify the mentioned deficiencies. Inspection specialists also conducted awareness-raising and consulting work on compliance with fire and technical safety regulations for hospitals, polyclinics, and ambulatory care centers, ensuring people’s safety during a fire, evacuation procedures, fire safety in medical facilities, actions of personnel and responsible individuals during a fire, and initial fire extinguishing measures.

Technical and fire safety specialists from the Gegharkunik Regional Division of the Inspection also conducted inspections at the "Martuni Medical Center" LLC and "Sevan Medical Center" CJSC between November 4-20, 2019. Following these inspections, several deficiencies and violations relating to fire safety regulations were also detected at the "Martuni Medical Center" LLC and "Sevan Medical Center" CJSC.

Both medical establishments were found to lack internal fire water networks equipped with fire hydrants, and they were not provided with an external fire hydrant or fire pond, nor did they have an adequate number of initial fire extinguishing materials such as fire extinguishers. The Martuni Medical Center also showed that wooden structural elements of the buildings had not been treated with fire retardants, and there were no metal grids installed along the perimeter of the roofs. Furthermore, each section of the center’s archival storage areas lacked separate exhaust ventilation.

Standard devices for protection against overloads and short circuits were not used, and fire hydrants were not installed in the building, which also lacked a fire alarm system. At the Sevan Medical Center, violations were found in the installation of electrical systems, and the evacuation door of the first building opens in the direction of movement—from the outside in.

Regarding the violations of technical and fire safety rules, administrative violation reports were drawn up against the managers of the "Martuni Medical Center" LLC and "Sevan Medical Center" CJSC, and decisions were made to hold them administratively accountable. The latter were invited to the Gegharkunik Regional Division for administrative hearings and were issued orders to rectify and eliminate the stated violations within a reasonable timeframe.