|
The group made up of on duty staff, plus many who had
come in to work just for this exercise, began the day by hearing a
brief orientation presented by Administrator Jo Hilliard.
During that period of time, some of the key
information shared with staff included the procedure for a manned
fire watch. Hilliard explained that if there were an occurrence
where that the facilities sophisticated fire alert system failed to
work, key staff would be chosen to perform fire watch. This would
include constant monitoring of the building, with a “round” made
every 15 minutes checking all rooms, and opening all locked doors,
inspecting the interior and moving on throughout the building.
Hilliard said that during a fire watch the person designated as
responsible would perform no other tasks, regardless of the request
from co-workers. She stressed to the staff that this was a vitally
important responsibility, and no fire watch person should allow
themselves to become distracted from their duty.
Hilliard concluded saying that she or the next in command would be
the ones to determine when to declare a fire watch. She said there
were specific criteria when this was called for, and administration
would make that call.
Hilliard went through the contents of a special fire watch kit, put
together in an insulated rolling cooler. She said every hall or
division of the facility would have such a kit. The kit would
include special procedures to follow, placards to be placed on doors
notifying everyone that a fire watch was underway. Supplies that
would be needed in a power failure and much more.
Hilliard then moved on to discuss the med cart and procedures should
the building suffer a prolonged power outage. She explained how to
deal with the computers if the buildings main system were
inoperable.
Hilliard then quickly moved on to the exercise of the day. She noted
that in the room there were many staff members. If an actual
emergency were to occur, there would be far fewer on hand, so each
person would have to focus on the task at hand. She also spoke to
those who might not be on duty saying, “If you know there is an
emergency, don’t wait for us to call you, just come, we will need
your help.” The Tuesday drill was a simulation of a tornado hit.
Hilliard told staff that if they were not on duty, when they come
for the real thing, to bring their families, so they would know
everyone was safe. She said the facility would make accommodations
for families to be safe and close by.
On this day, the scenario was that a tornado had hit 100 Hall, but
the congregate area had been spared. Staff would be moving all
residents to the congregate living building, where the safe meeting
spot would be in the dining area on the ground floor.
Staff would be working to move patients and urgent
supplies, there would be staff on the congregate side helping to
check in patients and there would be individuals responsible for
accounting for all the patients in a given area. There would also be
staff who were runners, going back and forth until everyone was
safe, staff who would be outside watching the perimeter of the
building to assure frightened residents did not try to evacuate
themselves into harm’s way, and staff who would stay with the
evacuated residents.
[to top of second
column] |
In the practice run, residents had volunteered to
participate and there were also other volunteers who came to help
out. The object was to evacuate the building regardless of the
mobility of the residents. For the exercise some were
self-propelled, some could move with the assistance of walkers or
canes, and some where wheelchair bound.
The drill also included moving one “resident” in a
bed. For that drill, no actual resident was used. Chaplain Ryan
Edgecombe took the position on the bed while staff members very
quickly trotted him from 100 Hall to the congregate living dining
area.
Once inside the dining area, staff wrote the name
of each resident on pieces of duct tape and put it on the patient’s
shoulder. Hilliard had explained earlier that it had to be assumed
that no one would be returning to the damaged building. Therefore,
residents would have to be relocated. Having that name on their
shoulder would be vitally important to the resident’s future
well-being.
Though Hilliard had warned that the drill would be fast and somewhat
chaotic and confusing, from the outside looking in, it appeared that
everything went very well. When the drill was finished, certain
staff were designated to stay with the residents while they enjoyed
a light snack, while other staff were directed to return to the
dining room at 100 Hall for a debriefing. There they would discuss
what had just happened, what went well, and what could have gone
better.
Today’s drill was just one of several in the future. The state of
Illinois has recently mandated that extended care and nursing
facilities conduct such drills on a regular basis.
[Nila Smith] |
