What should you expect during a Code Red (Fire) emergency situation?
You might be expecting chaos…and with any emergency or disaster, some feelings of chaos may be normal. However, if education and training has been performed correctly and staff has participated in drills, positive instincts should start to kick in. This can effectively turn the situation into “organized chaos” instead of outright pandemonium.
Our formal organization of the chaos is really very simple and concise…the R.A.C.E. Fire Plan. Although it’s not necessary in this venue to explain R.A.C.E., I’ll do so briefly just to ensure everyone is on the same page:
R – Rescue anyone in immediate danger, including yourself.
A – Alarm by activating the manual pull station and calling 9-1-1.
C – Contain the fire by closing doors to prevent the spread of smoke and flames.
E – Extinguish the fire if safe to do so.
E – Evacuate the area if directed to do so by the fire department, Security, or hospital leadership.
Although, when each nurse has one to five patients, it’s not as simple as all that. Can one nurse evacuate five patients to their vertical or external relocation point in a timely manner? Probably not. No big deal, the firefighters will evacuate them, right? I can’t tell you the times I’ve heard our local fire department’s leadership say, “Don’t expect our help with evacuation in a fire, we’re going to be focused solely on the fire. Evacuation is your job.” But don’t start feeling hopeless just yet…this has already been considered and well-planned in our UH and CH Life Safety & Fire Prevention Plans.
Make sure you know what to do in case of fire. Read the rest of this Speaking of Safety blog post here.