Fire Emergency

According to the National Fire Protection Association there are more than:

8,000 hospital fires a year.

A

Aim at the base (bottom) of the fire

C

Confine the fire

E

Extinguish or Evacuate

Special Challenges:

Give directions firmly and calmly. Each patient should be escorted one on one to a safe area. If staffing is short, ambulatory patients may help escort challenging patients as long as they are under general supervision of a staff member. Blind patients should be told to get close to the floor and keep in physical contact with a leader. Deaf patients should be directed by gestures and also escorted from the area. Never leave a group unattended. Account for all patients when arriving at the safe area. Bring the patients chart/record if possible because it contains essential information that may be needed later. have a system for tagging the rooms already evacuated to prevent unnecessary backtracking.

Confine the fire

Hospital units or wings are separated by heavy fire doors. Once the alarm is sounded, these doors will automatically close to keep the fire from spreading.. Ways to help confine the fire within your unit or wing is to close all windows, doors, and vertical openings like laundry chutes. These are barriers to smoke, heat , and flames. Stuffing damp towels underneath doors help keep smoke out. Shut off oxygen if you are directed to do so.

Evacuate

If a fire can't be extinguished and smoke, fumes, or flames threaten patient's safety, you may have to evacuate. If so, move patients HORIZONTALLY. Get the patients out of their rooms, through the next set of fire doors into a safe area on the SAME FLOOR. If you can't move horizontally because of smoke or flames block your way, proceed vertically. Work your way DOWN to a LOWER level. DO NOT MOVE PATIENT'S TO A HIGHER FLOOR UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. NEVER USE ELEVATORS. Evacuate ambulatory (Walking) patients first to reduce confusion and hallway congestion. Stay calm and give exact directions. To move non ambulatory patients: be prepared to disconnect respirators and other equipment, remove an IV or perhaps even cut a patient down from traction if necessary. Use wheelchairs if available. If necessary, you may even push a patient to safety while still in bed although more than one or two beds could cause dangerous traffic jam in the hallway.

Extinguish

If the fire is small and confined to the area where it started you may want to try to extinguish the fire yourself AFTER patients have been removed from immediate danger, the alarm has been rung and staff members have began closing the doors. If the fire is in a trash can or ash tray you can smother it pillow, towel, or blanket. If a patient's clothes are on fire, wrap the patient tightly in a large blanket to extinguish the flames. If a piece of equipment catches fire, pull the plug if possible. Shut off oxygen and remove any patient from immediate danger.

Sound the alarm

If you must rescue a patient in immediate danger, call out your facility's code word for fire so that other staff members can begin sounding the alarm. Rehearse and practice your facility's alarm procedure with your co-workers

What you do within the first two to three minutes of the fire:

Is critical for you and your patients

Using a Fire Extinguisher

PASS Pull Aim Squeeze Sweep

P

Pull the pin between the two handles of the fire extinguisher

R

Rescue the patients

Fire is hot. As frightening as flames are, there may be more danger than the intense heat produced by the fire that can:

Sear the lungs and fuse clothing to skin.

A

Sound the fire alarm

S

Squeeze the handles together

If you should catch on fire:

Stop, drop, and roll

S

Sweep from side to side to evenly coat the entire area of the fire

Keep applying more of the extinguishing agent even after:

The flames have been extinguished

RACE

This acronym tells you how to proceed and in what order in case of a fire.

Fire is fast. When it breaks out it may take just:

Three minutes to go from a tiny flame to a raging all -consuming inferno due to 'flashover", Flash over occurs when the air becomes hot enough to ignite every combustible object in the room

Types of Fire Extinguishers

Type A Ordinary Combustibles such as: -Wood, paper, cloth fires Type B -Flammable liquids fires such as : grease and anesthetics Type C Electrical Equipment -Electrical motors or Switches Type D Combustible Metals such as iron or magnesium Type ABC -any type of fire

Never leave an extinguished fire :

Unattended. Stay until the fire department arrives

Rescue the patients:

When you discover a fire rescuing patients in immediate danger is ALWAYS your top priority. Always investigate an unusual odor at once. If you smell smoke coming from behind a closed door. FEEL the door with the back of your hand BEFORE opening it, if it's too hot to touch, DON'T open it. If it's touchable, open it slowly. If you must enter the room to rescue a patient ,stay LOW. Remember that smoke and heat rises to the ceiling. Crawl beneath them

Smoke can kill:

Your workplace can be filled with thick, black blinding smoke. Smoke contains toxic gases which can kill in minutes. Carbon monoxide poisoning causes 75 percent of all fire deaths. Smoke rises to the ceiling that forms a thick cloud that descends slowly. Beneath it you can still see and breathe.