they're picked up during the atten-
dance roll call. If, and I stress if, the
facility has an accurate attendance of
who was in the center at the time of
the incident, then they'll notice the
missing staff member. The best per-
son to go to the immediate fire area
to assist is a member of the manage-
ment team. First, she can take control
of the situation by instructing staff to
either perform other tasks or to evac-
uate. Second, in the incident com-
mand system, the top-ranking man-
agement member on site will be the
facility's liaison to the fire depart-
ment. She'll be able to give the fire department a clear description of
the center's contents and its occupants.
Fire safety logistics
If your center doesn't have a facility-wide paging system, two-way
radios are a good substitute. These radios must be assigned to specif-
ic areas and to specific people for the system to work effectively. And
all staff, whether it be physicians, management, full-time, part-time or
per diem, must know the locations of basic safety equipment: extin-
guishers, fire alarm pull boxes, exits, medical gas shut-offs and elec-
tric panels.
OSM
Mr. Riehl (hlsconsultantsllc@gmail.com) is the owner of Healthcare Life
Safety Consultants (hlsconsultantsllc.com) in Sparta, N.J., which special-
izes in emergency preparedness and life safety compliance for ambulatory
surgery centers. He's a captain with the City of Hackensack Fire Department
and a New Jersey State Certified Fire Inspector.
J U N E 2 0 1 9 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 1 9
• FEEL THE HARDWARE Never enter a fire area before
checking the door for heat.
