A morning fire at a Massachusetts nursing home on August 11 led to the evacuation of the residents. South Boston police were the first on scene and started to help with the evacuation until fire and emergency medical teams arrived.
The South Boston Fire Department chief said they were called to the scene around 5:30 a.m. He said it appeared that the fire began in the main electrical room for the facility and that something exploded as two doors were blown open. Thick and heavy smoke spread rapidly throughout the building. The fire chief said because the fire took place in the main electrical room, they had to cut power to the entire building, which meant all the residents needed to be evacuated.
A reunification center had been established at a nearby church. Nursing home officials posted on social media that the facility had been evacuated, and all the residents were safe.
Thirty-three of the residents were sent to a local hospital due to smoke inhalation. A hospital spokesperson said that they were in good/fair condition. She also said that the hospital was working closely with the nursing home to ensure that everyone would have a safe and comfortable place to go to when they were discharged from the hospital.
According to the police department, many nursing home residents had limited clothing supplies due to the fire, so they asked for donations to be dropped off at a local church.
The fire chief said the fire is expected to be a multimillion-dollar loss because of the damage to the building’s electrical system.
Compliance Perspective
Issue
Facility staff should be well versed in life safety and emergency preparedness requirements. The Emergency Preparedness Plan and Life Safety code specifications should be reviewed by facility leaders who must ensure that staff are aware of and meeting the requirements. It is critical that the facility’s Emergency Preparedness Plan is reviewed periodically and implemented promptly should any emergency arise. An effective Emergency Preparedness Plan should cover fire emergencies and include detailed guidelines for the total evacuation of a facility to a safe location, transport of required equipment, secure handling of medications and medical records to transfer locations, and much more. Refer to the CMS State Operations Manual, Appendix Z, available here.
Discussion Points
- Review your Emergency Preparedness Plan and update as necessary. Review the most current Life Safety codes and ensure that your building meets those requirements. Make sure the Plan is available to staff so they can easily access the guidelines for the various components should an emergency occur.
- Train all staff on your Emergency Preparedness Plan. Conduct drills for the various disaster response plans to ensure staff competency with each. Ensure that the facility Maintenance Director is aware of current Life Safety codes and provide training as needed. Document that these trainings and drills occurred, and file the signed documents in each employee’s education file.
- Periodically conduct environmental audits to ensure that Life Safety codes are being followed. Audit staff to ensure that they are aware of their roles during each category of emergency per your Emergency Preparedness Plan. Audit to ensure that thorough documentation of each drill is on file and available for surveyor access when requested, to include participation in an annual area-wide drill with your local emergency response teams.
*This news alert has been prepared by Med-Net Concepts, LLC for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal advice.*
