HCPro.com: Healthcare Life Safety Compliance

July 2008 (Volume 10, Issue 7)	view entire issue

Avoid fire pump test snags and other common pitfalls during a survey
Don't let simple fire protection slipups cost you a citation with surveyors. That was among the messages reiterated to attendees of HCPro's second annual Hospital Safety Symposium, which took place May 8-9 in Las Vegas. EC.5.20, which requires compliance with the Life Safety Code® (LSC), is among the top requirements for improvement (RFI) in facilities accredited by The Joint Commission (formerly JCAHO).

New resource pushes teamwork to prevent surgical fires
In April, surgical team members at a Houston hospital faced a fire in the midst of a procedure. A surgeon laid a light source on a drape, which then caught fire, says the facility's environmental health and safety inspector, who asked not to be named. "The staff pulled the drape off and extinguished it with a water mist extinguisher," the safety inspector says. "Even while we were gathering up the burned items, the surgery continued."

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:

Beware of fire door trouble

Consider forming a life safety committee soon

State rebukes hospital about burned surgical patient

Retrofitting sprinklers will cost nursing homes $846 million

NFPA 82 sets the rules for sprinklers and ratings related to your facility’s limited access chutes

Questions & answers

With holidays looming, monitor decoration risks

HLSC Q&A

Check fire department connections every three months

Note these pointers for barrier and wall requirements

The Joint Commission now allows storage in dead ends

Questions & Answers

Stay ahead of PFI snags and anticipate other problems

Expect final nursing home sprinkler rule this summer

2009 life safety standards go online; Joint Commission engineer offers thoughts

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