Accreditation

Greeley Reflections

Accreditation Connection, November 12, 2010

Fire Evacuations in the procedural areas

 

Part 3 of 5

The regulatory perspective

From a strict regulatory perspective (I don’t want folks to think that this is somehow a “new” requirement), the Life Safety Code requires that everyone who has a role in the fire response plan will periodically participate in fire drills, with the drill scenarios to include relocation of patients (you can use simulated patients or even empty wheelchairs or stretchers – you may even want to practice moving “someone” on an operating room table—worst case scenario to be sure, but…) to safe environments (for example, an adjacent smoke compartment).

And if you need further convincing of the importance of appropriately managing this risk, you should keep in mind the position of The Joint Commission. While the National Patient Safety Goal on surgical fires focuses almost exclusively on ambulatory surgical environments, the original Sentinel Event Alert includes the management of surgical fire risks in all areas in which the risk of fire is present.

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