Every hospital must develop and regularly review fire and life safety emergency plans, which must be prepared by all those working there.

Cooking equipment is the main cause of fires in healthcare facilities and hospitals, so it is critical that grease traps be regularly emptied out and any potentially flammable objects kept away from cooking equipment.

Make a List

Healthcare facilities place equal emphasis on procedures as on prevention. A documented, centralized system for inspection and service will ensure everything is prepared in case of an emergency, from monthly fire alarm checks to three-year sprinkler inspections – every element of your facility’s fire suppression system needs to meet code. Therefore, signing a scheduled servicing plan with your fire protection equipment supplier is an excellent way to make sure nothing slips through the cracks.

Healthcare facilities present unique fire safety challenges. Along with housing vulnerable members of their community, these buildings house abundant oxygen supplies and volatile chemicals which are potentially combustible materials.

Staff must be fully familiar with hospital fire evacuation routes in case of a fire emergency, such as RACE: Rescue Alarm Confine Extinguish/Evacuate. This process could mean life or death in medical settings where patients might not be mobile enough to evacuate alone.

Make a Plan

Hospitals and long-term care facilities present unique fire risks, with heat-generating equipment, storage of flammable chemicals, and multiple people sharing the space at once. It is vital that hospitals and long-term care facilities take steps to minimize these fire risks by developing plans in case an emergency situation arises requiring their intervention.

Healthcare facilities must devise an emergency evacuation plan tailored specifically to their occupants’ specific conditions, including plans to rescue and evacuate patients who cannot move independently and notify fire departments and other emergency personnel of potential emergencies.

Cooking equipment is one of the leading causes of fire in healthcare facilities, so staff must remain vigilant in monitoring kitchen areas to make sure no combustible materials are stored near appliances and regularly clean dryer lint screens to keep power strips free from daisy-chaining connections. All electrical cords must also be checked regularly for frayed or melted plugs.

Make a Checklist

Staying ahead of fire safety requirements should be a top priority for facility managers to ensure patients, staff and visitors remain safe. Even seemingly minor tasks like regularly inspecting kitchen equipment or storing flammable materials or not daisy-chaining electrical wires can make a dramatic difference for hospitals or health and care centres.

Healthcare facilities face unique fire risks due to the use of operating rooms. Indeed, operating room fires account for many fires in healthcare industries across the board.

As per NFPA guidelines, it is imperative that facilities have a sprinkler system. Regular inspection, testing and maintenance should take place according to this policy. In addition, smoking materials should not be present within the building itself or if allowed they should have their own designated smoking area with large tip-resistant metal ashtrays designed for smoking – this will prevent careless handling which is a major cause of fires in residential settings.

Make a Training Plan

Healthcare facilities must train staff on all 4 Principles of Fire Safety to ensure optimal patient safety. However, sometimes these steps overlap; for instance, life safety may mean rescuing patients from rooms or areas deemed unsafe, or disconnecting oxygen to them (rather than evacuation and notification).

Consider hiring professional fire safety instructors such as the ones from fire protection sprinkler services with hospital/healthcare facility experience as they’ll have a better grasp on the unique hazards present at your particular facility, helping your staff identify and prepare for them.

Cooking equipment is one of the primary causes of fires in healthcare facilities and hospitals, yet these fires are typically contained by fire suppression systems. Therefore, regular checks of these systems to make sure they’re functioning as they should is essential – this seemingly routine maintenance could save lives when a fire breaks out, as it prevents it from spreading to patient rooms or even across an entire building.