Fire Disaster Plan For a Skilled Nursing Facility

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Table of Contents

Surveillance
Response
Communications
Security
Education
Reference

The purpose of this fire disaster plan is to guide the given skilled nursing facility on fire emergency procedures to protect the lives and property of staff, residents, and visitors. Disaster planning in this skilled nursing facility is the responsibility of the facility Administrator. The Administrator delegates authority to the members of the Administration, who then assign responsibilities to other staff members. The Administrator, or the senior administrative employee in the Administrators absence, is responsible for making decisions concerning the location of the disaster, the number of residents to be evacuated, and the emergency plan implementation. The fire disaster plan is developed by the Michigan Disaster Preparedness Guidelines (2012).

Surveillance

Pre-emergency measures should be taken to ensure the preparedness of the facility for the disaster and the staffs ability to identify key signs of the emergency. For external fires, these measures include:

Monitoring local alert systems and regional news for evacuation instructions.
Monitoring residents and staff members to identify conditions related to smoke exposure.
Establishing partnerships with organizations responsible for addressing fire emergencies in the immediate and surrounding communities.

Pre-emergency measures for internal fires include:

Assessing the potential vulnerabilities of the facility.
Ensuring that the facility emergency warning system is available and functioning.
Ensuring that all staff members are trained to identify the signs of fire, report the emergency, and respond to the emergency according to their assigned roles.

Every member of the facility staff is responsible for taking measures to prevent the internal fire emergency. Below, there is a list of hazards and the rules that should be applied to them:

Smoking:

Allow smoking only in the permitted place and time; stop those who violate this rule.
Cover trash cans to prevent careless smokers from throwing fresh cigarette butts inside.
Empty trash cans daily.

Chemicals:

Store chemicals properly in ventilated areas.
Do not smoke while using chemicals.

Electrical system:

Do not overload electrical outlets.
Repair defective elements of the electric system, such as plugs that heat up or frayed wires, in a timely manner.

Oxygen:

Forbid smoking in the areas where oxygen is used or stored.
Do not rub residents with alcohol or oil before or during their receiving oxygen.
Unplug unnecessary electrical appliances while using oxygen.

Response

The response to the fire emergency should be initiated as soon as one notices the signs of the emergency fire or smoke. Upon the detection of these signs, one should follow the instructions:

Rescue individuals in immediate danger and move them to the closest safe place.
Activate fire alarm and call 9-1-1 to report a fire.
Contain the fire by closing doors.
Extinguish the fire if possible.

A fire extinguisher should be used only by a person who is trained to use it and only when its capacity in extinguishing the fire is certain. When using a fire extinguisher, one should follow the instructions:

Pull the safety pin.
Aim the fire extinguisher at the base of the fire.
Squeeze the trigger handle to release the agent.
Sweep the stream from side to side, pointing it at the base of the fire.
Use the extinguisher while standing near the door to be able to leave the room if the fire becomes uncontrollable.

Evacuation is necessary only when the lives of residents, visitors, or staff members are in danger. The Administrator is responsible for giving an order to evacuate. Individuals should be evacuated from the facility using evacuation routes, with which every member of the staff should be familiar. The ambulatory residents should be evacuated first; wheelchair should be evacuated next, and totally dependent residents should be removed in the last turn.

Communications

During the fire emergency, the primary means of communication is the telephone. Therefore, no employee should use the telephone for purposes other than responding to the fire emergency as long as the response continues. According to the Michigan Disaster Preparedness Guidelines (2012), all relevant staff should be promptly notified of the fire emergency. Hence, the Administrations should have 24-hour contact information for all key staff, including home telephone, pager, cell phone, and email, as well as a telephone tree system or emergency notification software (Michigan Disaster Preparedness Guidelines, 2012, p. 3). Contact information should be checked regularly to make sure that key staff members can be reached in case of an emergency.

Security

In order to ensure security during the fire emergency, it is necessary to attempt to contain the fire. If the fire is small, it can be contained by being covered with a thick blanket. In order to inhibit the spread of fire, it is necessary to close doors and windows after leaving the immediate danger areas. Once a person who noticed the signs of the fire disaster notified the Administrator of the emergency, the Administrator should rapidly appoint staff members responsible for responding to the emergency.

Education

All employees should be familiar with evacuation routes, the location of alarms and fire extinguishers, and emergency phone numbers. To familiarize the employees with this information, the facility may use posters. Employees and residents should also be trained to use the emergency warning system and fire extinguishers. Apart from that, each shift should participate in fire drills once per quarter, and the drills should take place at varied times. Every training session and fire drill should be documented to reveal issues that should be included in the improvement plan for the fire emergency education program.

Reference

Michigan Disaster Preparedness Guidelines. (2012). Web.

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Fire Disaster Plan For a Skilled Nursing Facility

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