Fire Drill

Introduction

Date of Last Review 4/3/08
SME: Safety Compliance Coordinator


As part of the Safety Management Program, fire drills are required to prepare staff to handle a fire emergency.

Purpose

The drills are designed to test staff knowledge on the following:

Use and function of the fire alarm systems

Transfer to areas of refuge

Fire extinguishing

Assignments of specific duties and preparation for building evacuation

Safety Compliance Coordinator responsibilities

The UTHCPC Safety Compliance Coordinator serves as the Fire Marshall and will be responsible for scheduling and conducting fire drills on a quarterly basis. All drills will be unannounced and only the administrator or designee and Facility Services will be notified of the planned drill.

Day/evening shifts drill

The Safety Compliance Coordinator and the evaluation team conduct the day/evening shift drills as follows:

Stage	Person Responsible	Description
1	The Safety Compliance Coordinator	Activates the fire alarm system at the specified time Activation location: The location of the alarm activation will be at the discretion of the Safety Compliance Coordinator.
2	Security	Make the appropriate drill announcement over the paging system. See "UT Police Fire Plan " instruction card on clipboard.
3	Department/Unit	Observe their assigned department/unit for appropriate response to the alarm Gather all available staff in the department/unit in one central location Using the appropriate UTHCPC Fire Drill Group Check Sheet Support , Fire Drill Group Check Sheet Nursing reviews questions with the staff on fire emergency procedures
4	Facility Services	Resets the alarm system when given authorization from the Safety Compliance Coordinator
5	The Safety Compliance Coordinator	At the conclusion of the drill, will have Security announce the "All Clear" on the paging system
7	Department/Unit	Returns the completed Group Check Sheet and /or Fire Drill Test to the Safety Office within three working days
8	The Safety Compliance Coordinator	Reviews all of the forms, consolidates them Prepares a report for the Safety Committee Sends quizzes to Hospital-Wide Education to record grades for those not on Blackboard

Alarm activation during night shift

To keep disturbance of patients to a minimum Security do not activate the alarm system during the night shift for fire drill purposes.

Patient evacuation:
Staff do not evacuate patients from any unit or department as part of any fire drill in the night shift

Night shift drill

This table describes the night shift drill:

Stage	Person Responsible	Description
1	The Safety Compliance Coordinator and/or the designated team member	Proceeds to each patient care unit in the facility. Displays a red "FIRE DRILL" sign to the staff of the unit to indicate to the staff that a fire drill is taking place
2	The staff members	Activate their fire drill procedure, with the exception of waking the patients
3	The designated team member	Observes the staff during the drill. Gathers the staff in one location and questions the staff on fire emergency procedures. Forwards the completed forms to the Safety Office.
4	The Safety Compliance Coordinator	Reviews each form, consolidate them Prepares a report to the Safety Committee Sends quizzes Hospital-Wide Education to record grades

Safety Compliance Coordinator report inclusion

The Safety Compliance Coordinator report to the Safety Committee will include the following:

The number of staff participating in the fire drill

Overall percentage of correct answers on the evaluation form

Any discrepancies noted by departments/units and what actions will be taken to correct the problems

His/her overall evaluation of the fire drill

Related Standards

The Joint Commission : Environment of Care

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