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NORTHERN LIGHT ACADIA HOSPITAL
Operating Features - Other
Tag No.: K0700
Intakes: ME00024750, ME00024871
Based on observation and interview with surveyor 37969 on April 26, 2017:
Findings:
1) Corridor doors are to be kept closed: The initial smoke in the hallway was from SM1 leaving Rm 169 to report the fire. When the fire was extinguished by SM3, both the bathroom door and the corridor doors were left open. As reported by SM3 & SM4, there was so much smoke they didn't feel comfortable closing the door behind them when they went in to put out the fire.
2) If there is so much smoke or fire that fire extinguisher trained personnel are not comfortable keeping the room secure while the fire is extinguished, then the risk is too great and they too shall evacuate.
3) Part of the safety policy is certain staff to have communication radios: SM3 has a communication radio however it was left on the counter in the medication room. Similarly, when additional staff arrived with fire extinguishers, reportedly they too had neglected to bring/wear their radios which had been left on the charging stations.
4) The evacuation of patients and visitors was not directly outside. Instead they were escorted to the cafeteria in another section of the building. Reportedly some people were escorted back past the fire scene to get to the cafeteria. In one reported incident there was a meeting taking place in a small conference room that had an exterior exit door. The persons in this meeting however did not exit directly outside; instead they went back into the building and waited for instructions.
5) Per Acadia Hospitals Fire Safety Management Plan, in business occupancy areas of the buildings, the hospital maintains free and unobstructed access to all exits. Any doors in the path of egress or in the path to an interior safe muster point must not be locked in the direction of egress. The cross corridor doors from Rm 169 to the corridor that leads to the cafeteria shall be tested to determine if they do unlock when the alarm sounds.
6) Safety measures in the bathroom ventilation functioned as designed.