NEAFC 32nd Annual Conference.pdf - New England Association of ...

NEw" ENGLAND ASSOCIATION OF FIRE CHIEFS
Not only can he eliminate the ordinary fire hazards, but in existing homes,
the chief can work out an effective evacuation plan with the owner. Put the
plan on paper, with each step outlined. Organize the institution staff for the
rescue job. Organize the neighbors, if necessary, also.
And, of course, he should work out all of the possibilities. of the situation
with his own fire crew and the police. Hold fire drills of the employee-staff;
make them fire-conscious. And, have dry runs for your own men and the
police. Train the employees, and your men, until they know exactly what each
is to do, and where and how to do it at each hospital or boarding borne in your
town. Work out mutual aid, to meet the worst conditions.
Install an alarm box in the Home, if it is a good-sized institution. See
that the Home has a heat detection system, and emergency lighting, for use,
should the wires go, as they v~ill, in a fire. Make sure that the institution"s
r~cords are kept in an adequate safe, so that a check of the inmates can be
made after the fire, if needed.
And, persist! Read what the N. F. P. A. says about the infirmary fire at
Nicolette, West Verginia:
"Infirmary, Nicolette, West Virginia, February 26, 1950; 1 dead;
$130,000.
"An 80-year’old inmate was trapped when fire destroyed the
sprinklered two-story brick, wood-joisted home for aged and infirm persons.
Ignition of the combustible ceiling and walls of the furnace room
by an overheated furna~was the apparent cause.
"On April 11, 1949, fire officials had submitted, in writing, sixteen
recommendations to improve the fir e ,safety of the building, two of which
would have materially improved the fire-resistance of the boiler room and
in all probability would have prevented this fire. Unfortunately, these
and other major recommeiadations had not been acted upon."
Theretofore, I say, keep stubbornly at your task. Make frequent inspections.
If your stat..e law or city ordinance does not give you direct authority,
the agent of the Department of Health or Welfare, who has. the authority, can
deputize you to accompany him. But, the~i3ii~alescent home manager who is
conscientious and who plans to stay in business should welcome you anyway.
He doesn’t want a fire; nor does~he want his paying clients burned, or asphyxiated.
The N. F. P. A. is in the process~ of developing a standard Code for nursing
homes to help you, which will be out soon, the officers, say.
"There will be no loss. of lives in hospital fires, if the proper automatic
protective devices are installed in a hospital building, and if a comprehensive
emergency plan is developed and the hospital employees indoctrinated
in it, then practically all the emergencies.. which might arise
will be satisfactorily taken care of," writes Dale C. Auck, Director of the
Fire Protection Division of the Federation of Mutual Insurance Companies.
,The point of this talk is. just this: Each of you Chiefs wants to be in line
for a congratulatory telegram like that which came to my name-sake, Howard
F. Russell, from Sister Alberta, head of St. Paul’s Hospital in Dallas., Texas. I
have no connection with the companies complimented in the telegram, but the