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Evacuation
I work in a large hospital. For several months now, I've been wanting to do a CE on getting out safe in case of a fire. I was gonna call it, "Do You Know Your Route". We have a procedure but I'm sure that everyone does like I have done in the past, skip over the info and just keep taking the test until you pass it. Fire safety is one of our requirements to do yearly on the computer. Instead of thinking."Oh it will never happen to me", I've began to think,"What if it did"?
So here is my questions
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1.Where in the world do I even start on a project like this? It's for a CE so it's not a major report but I want to know that everyone knows our roles and the shortest way out.
2. I can start with the procedure manual but I don't want to make it so long that no one reads it so which majoy points should I cover besides someone getting out or helping to move patients?
3. In the hospital, the loading dock and parking for the trailer trucks are directly under my department. We are two floors above the the dock which is UNDER the building on ground level. Exhaust comes in at times but last week lots of us could hardly breathe for the exhaust fumes coming into our department.How come a loading dock UNDER the building with trailer trucks coming and going is allow by the fire department?
4. I wonder if exhaust is coming in when we don't smell it. Would long term exposure affect someone's health when it's traveling through an air duct system like that?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Roy Walker on
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Let's address your last comment as this disturbs me. Something is definitely wrong with this and must be addressed . There should not be fumes entering the ventilation system from the loading dock because the intake should not be in this area. Second the loading dock should be a positive pressure area with sensors that detect high CO levels ,activating ventilation fans and alarms. To think that anybody is being exposed to these fumes on a daily basis is unacceptable and needs to be addressed by your health and safety personnel. Lastly ,though not necessarily in importance you are a hospital, the ill and those with compromised breathing disorders especially should not be exposed to this atmosphere. You must try to resolve this issue by bringing it to the attention of someone in authority. Check to see if engines are required to be shut off during loading and is this policy posted and enforced that alone could help immensely. Hope this is a help.
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Permalink Reply by Gina on
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Thanks Roy, I'm going to check it out. I don't know how that loading dock is set up but I will find out.
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Permalink Reply by FETC on
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Gina,
Our hospital is rated, Fire Resistive and therefore we have a shelter-in-place facility. Therefore the extent of evacuation for smoke, fire or hazmat is to the next designated area of refuge. That would be behind another set of doors, to a different wing perhaps.
The only time the entire building would be evacuated was a bomb, or terrorist incident.
The HVAC is modern, and in our facility is highly controlled. Therefore as Roy mentioned should be able to positive pressure one area and negative evac a condition in others. As far as your loading dock issue, the policy at our facility, even for the ambulances who back under the ER canopy is to shut them off. After a little investigating I bet you will find that the delivery trucks are supposed to shut their engines off while parked. Security may need to start, enforcing the rules.
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Thanks FETC, you are right. We do go wing by wing and have fire doors that shut off section by section. I just can't figure out how to present this material so that it does not read like I've just copied the procedure.
My department is a neg pressure area so I'm not sure how the exhaust came into the area so bad that day. I think you are probably right in the fact that we probably got a driver who did not or was not aware of the rules about shutting the engine off. We have been smelling it lately so I'm betting maybe we have a new guy on duty. Security is all over the hospital so I can't imagine that they were not aware that this happen. We have already had the bomb squad out to disable a package that was a small bomb. I thought great now we have to worry about being blown up at work or around town. Is it ever going to end??
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Just a quick thought maybe valueless to you but how about staging a scenario, how involved is up to you,people tend to remember what they see or do
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Permalink Reply by Matthew Powers on
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Gina, try conning your coworkers into acting out the scenes so you can take their picture for the manual. You can teach them while they are helping you out. Sneaky yes, but it might help to reinforce the safety mindset. When you make your manual, keep it small, perhaps a tri-folded pamphlet. Use lots of pictures, and use some funny captions, people will read it just to see what you say about them. The biggest thing as you pointed out is to keep it small and interesting.
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Permalink Reply by Olivia Jones on
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Matthew, LOVE your idea its way better than mine was. Gina I was going to suggest either bringing in a member of your local FD to assist, or going unit/floor by floor and in an informal a brief way go over the material that most people dont pay attention to.
My mother has been an ICU nurse for 35 years and her feelings unfortantly havent changed in that time. She will tell you she is taking the healthyist patient and getting out of there. Wish you the best of luck but I think Matthews idea rocked!
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