HCPro.com: Healthcare Life Safety Compliance

May 2008 (Volume 10, Issue 5)	view entire issue

Life safety specialists may arrive separately from the regular survey teams
In a move that has not yet been publicized, The Joint Commission's life safety specialists occasionally conduct their hospital visits on different dates than the regular survey teams. "Yes, The Joint Commission is sending [life safety] surveyors at a separate time than the rest of the surveyors," says Brad Keyes, a safety consultant for The Greeley Company, a division of HCPro, Inc., in Marblehead, MA. Keyes, a former life safety specialist, has received confirmation of this practice from other life safety surveyors.

Smoking and clothes dryer problems lead to blazes, again
Two fires in long-term care facilities-both of which had tragic results-stemmed from common risks in this type of setting. The fires occurred in Massachusetts: On December 30, 2007, a resident smoking in bed at Mount Pleasant Home in Boston died after the cigarette ignited his bedding and burned him. On February 21, a dryer fire occurred at Fairhaven Healthcare Center in Lowell, forcing a horizontal evacuation of residents to a safe area within the building. During the fire response, an employee collapsed and later died from an apparent heart attack.

Questions & Answers
Editor's note: Each month, Jennifer Frecker and James Lathrop of fire protection consulting firm Koffel Associates, Inc., in Elkridge, MD, answer your questions about life safety compliance. Our editorial advisory board also reviews the Q&A column.

Other recently-published articles from Healthcare Life Safety Compliance:

Questions & Answers

With interior finishes, know what values to watch for

Joint Commission updates alarm transmission options

Questions & Answers

Smoking and clothes dryer problems lead to blazes, again

Life safety specialists may arrive separately from the regular survey teams

Questions & Answers

London hospital’s fire response offers lessons for America

Insurance reps detail the fire safety risks they watch for in your facility

Questions & Answers

ECRI Institute investigates an infant bassinet fire

Surveyors’ focus may bend on occupancy classification

Questions & Answers

LSC and other criteria will shape PFI completion dates

Future life safety standards offer new guidance, but scoring remains a question

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