Keeping up with EC.5.40: The secret to survey readiness
Emergency Management Alert, December 18, 2007
Last week, we told you about the Washington, DC, hospital that lost its accreditation in part because of problems with fire prevention and emergency power systems. Although the exact standards violations at that facility were not publicized, we can tell you that fire safety and equipment maintenance concerns always elicit questions from readers of HCPro publications, such as this recent exchange about The Joint Commission's standard EC.5.40. It appeared in the December issue of the monthly newsletter Briefings on The Joint Commission and was answered by Elizabeth di Giacomo-Jeffers, RN, MPH, CNAA, BC, a healthcare consultant based in Trabuco Canyon, CA:
HC PRO: What keeps this standard on the list of problematic standards year in and year out?
EGJ: If you did not chart it, you didn't do it. Capture your excellence in writing. The biggest thing with the EC standards is, in terms of continual survey readiness, you need a content expert for Environment of Care, someone who knows the processes and can be accountable for getting it done-and a backup person in case that person is not there during [a] survey or [a] disaster.
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