We are constantly emphasizing the importance of barrier management in healthcare facilities, but it’s critical to also stress the equal significance for residents safety in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. As a facility manager, you know healthcare facilities are “Defend in Place” facilities, and ensuring the safety of your residents is one of the most important parts of your job. You are caring for those who are elderly and may not be able to take care of themselves. In fact, many residents are unable to be moved or are too sick to move quickly enough to evacuate safely. And with many fire tragedies involving senior living facilities, it is crucial to make sure these facilities are able to protect those who can no longer protect themselves. Therefore, making sure all aspects of your facility’s barrier management systems are in good working condition will guarantee your elderly residents are protected in the event of a fire.
Your Facility’s Barrier Management Systems
Fire Doors, if kept shut, help compartmentalize a facility while allowing a safe evacuation route for those occupants who can quickly and safely evacuate from danger.
Fire and Smoke Dampers are used in the ventilation system of a building to help prevent the spread of fire and smoke within the ductwork. This also helps to protect patients and residents by preventing fire and smoke from traveling from one room to the next through the ducts.
Fire and Smoke Barriers & Partitions are fire-resistant walls, floors and ceilings that compartmentalize a facility into sections. Firestopping is the use of fire-resistant materials used to seal and maintain these barriers and prevent the spread of fire and smoke from one section to the next. This allows for those who would not be able to evacuate to continue to receive medical care while being protected from danger.
Photoluminescent Egress Path Markers and Exit Signage will glow in dark or smoky conditions to help residents navigate their way through the building to safety. Egress signs should be placed in key locations, such as hallways and stairwells throughout the facility to indicate the safe areas in which they can exit to.
If each component of a facility’s barrier management system is up-to-date with the codes and working properly, it will compartmentalize your facility and help keep the fire to its area of origin. By containing the fire to one area, facility personnel and first responders can guarantee their residents safety by evacuating those residents that can’t get out by themselves. While waiting for staff or first responders to reach them, residents are able to defend in place until they are assisted out of the building.
