713-722-7800
Fire Prevention in Healthcare Facilities
Fire Prevention in Healthcare Facilities
No one starts the day expecting a fire in a public building, but the potential for a fire is present every day. Prevention of a fire event and preparation in case of a fire event is a public safety requirement for public buildings. Special care must be taken by hospitals and long-term healthcare providers since some patients receiving care will not be mobile and cannot evacuate on their own.
Healthcare facility managers must work with security providers and first responder teams to ensure the safety of patients and staff. If you are developing or updating your prevention and protection protocol, contact Fire Safe; we are here to help.
While preparing your Fire Prevention in Healthcare Facilities plan, consider these important steps:
- Unless You Document, It Did Not Happen.
It takes organization to document every measure you take to keep your facility safe. Documentation of each measure is essential: every update, drill, and inspection must be on record.
- Documentation is essential for maintaining compliance and must be presented during inspections. The Fire Marshal will maintain the documents you provide, demonstrating compliance of the facility with regulations.
- Successful safety measures will require staff training. Staff training will require clear documentation of individual tasks. Retain documentation of schedules, drills, and safety training as a record of safety training.
- Every change in an evacuation plan, an inspection of fire extinguishers, and receipt of updated regulations must be documented to relevant compliance authorities and changes in plans demonstrated with new staff training.
- Inspect and Maintain Suppression and Alarm Systems.
By regulation and code, your facility was built with extensive fire suppression and alarm components. These components make up an entire fire prevention system as a safety feature of the facility. Regulatory agencies certify that your building(s) are safe for intended purposes based upon your maintenance of this system. Patients and patients’ family members make decisions based, in part, upon your maintenance of this system.
Fire Prevention in Healthcare Facilities components are mechanical in nature: fire extinguishers, sprinkler systems, smoke detectors, and alarms must be maintained.
Compliance agencies determine a schedule for inspection and maintenance service; meeting this maintenance
schedule is essential to guarantee safety standards are current. That may include monthly fire alarm checks and 3-year sprinkler system inspections, and annual fire inspections from the Fire Marshal. Fire Safe can provide a code requirement sheet as a guide for scheduling inspections and maintenance. (Remember to document everything.)
Plan to conduct a fire watch any time your fire suppression system is down for service. This ensures the safety of patients, guests, and staff while the facility is vulnerable. Document the details and results of the fire watch, regardless of whether an event happened or not.
- Plan Ahead with an Evacuation as a part of Your Fire Prevention in Healthcare Facilities Plan
State-of-the-art fire suppression equipment is no substitute for a well-orchestrated evacuation in the event of a fire. Expect patients to be alarmed and confused, with loud, unexpected noises, perhaps smoke, and perhaps sprinkler soaking them to the skin. They will be looking for someone, anyone in charge to help them through the emergency. Your staff will be in charge of bringing calm to the situation and systematically moving people to safety.
Start with a fire prevention plan that identifies fire hazards unique to the facility (Steps 4 and 5 are examples). Fires in healthcare facilities are rare because the staff is trained to avoid and prevent fires from starting. Next, a risk assessment will help recognize potential problems (difficult areas to evacuate, bottlenecks, etc.) and discover plans to address them. From these details develop an emergency response plan (who is responsible for alerting first responders) and a detailed evacuation plan that accounts for identified risks. When the staff knows their part in the plan, they can calmly put into effect a clear plan of action that brings chaos into order.
Telling is not enough. This emergency plan must be the subject of training, with regularly scheduled drills. Practice fire drills often enough that new hires do not become liabilities in the event of a fire event.
Do not neglect the training of the staff on the use of fire extinguishers; it is proven to improve the speed and effectiveness of the response of healthcare personnel during a fire event. Fire extinguishers can make the difference between a small fire emergency and a large fire emergency. Training should demonstrate how to operate the equipment and where to focus the pressurized burst of chemicals. Effective use of a fire extinguisher can prevent the spread of a fire within the facility.
- Give Attention to Fire Prevention in the Kitchen
A U.S. Fire Administration study reports that 68% of fires in hospitals and healthcare facilities between, (2012 and 2014), beginning in the kitchen around cooking equipment. The single greatest cause was unattended equipment. While the number is high, the commercial kitchen in every healthcare facility has advanced fire suppression equipment installed around the cooking appliances. The result is that most fires in the study did not spread beyond the source equipment or the kitchen.1
For this reason, monitor the kitchen(s) in your facility, ensuring the fire suppression systems are inspected and serviced regularly. Fire Safe can provide a service guide for maintaining fire suppression systems in commercial equipment.
- Smoking in the Vicinity of Oxygen
Hospitals and healthcare centers focus on the health and well-being of patients, visitors and staff, but occasionally patients do not adequately focus on their own health. Patients who smoke may not understand the risk of smoking near an oxygen supply. Oxygen is not flammable, but it does accelerate combustion. A flame or a smoldering cigarette in the presence of oxygen is a substantial fire hazard. Patients who smoke must be educated on the dangers of smoking around pressurized oxygen. If your healthcare facility has a designated smoking area, provide safe containers for disposing of ash and butts and ensure that oxygen is not allowed in the smoking area.
Fire Prevention in Healthcare Facilities is extremely important and must not be left to chance. Plan carefully. Be vigilant concerning the maintenance and testing of your fire prevention system. Train and drill staff members regularly. Document everything that you do. Pay close attention to high-risk areas.
Have questions about Fire Prevention in Healthcare Facilities?
Call Fire Safe Protection Services today at 713-722-7800 or visit our online form and we will be in contact as soon as possible about Fire Prevention in Healthcare Facilities.
1 https://www.usfa.fema.gov/data/statistics/reports/snapshot_hospital.html