‘Hospitals need phone charging stations’

PETALING JAYA: The Federation of Malaysian Consumers Association (Fomca) has called for major hospitals to provide phone charging stations for safety purposes.
Its senior vice-president, Datuk K. Koris Atan, said a charging station is much safer and can charge about twenty mobile phones at a time.
"Consumers are increasingly relying on their phone to stay connected, so I suggest that the Health Ministry should make it compulsory for all hospitals to have charging stations just like the one at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) or the railway stations in India.
"These charging kiosks are not that expensive, it's about RM400 per unit and it has a lot of safety features and will definitely reduce the risk of short circuits," Koris told theSun in a recent interview.
He added that to make it more secure, each charging station must have a lock to ensure that the phones are not stolen.
Koris said this matter must be addressed swiftly as allowing the public to charge their phones at an electrical outlet in hospitals could be dangerous in cases of short circuit or faulty wiring.
He added the recent Sultanah Aminah Hospital (HSA) tragedy in Johor Baru which claimed six lives could be an example on why there is a need for these charging stations.
"Although it is not concluded yet, but many of us know that the incident was caused by a short circuit," he said.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam had announced in the Dewan Rakyat on Oct 26 that a fire audit will be carried out immediately, especially in older public hospitals to ensure safety measures are in place in dealing with incidences of fire.