Fire/Electrical Safety

Community-Wide Student
Orientation
 Chemistry of Fire

Fire burns because there are

three elements present...
 Fuel
 Heat
 Oxygen

By removing any one element a fire can

not occur, or a fire will not be able to
sustain combustion. 2
 Fire Prevention
Practices...
 Keep passage ways and exits clear
 Ensure fire extinguishers and fire alarm
pull stations are accessible at all times
 Place trash in proper receptacles
 Ensure that fire doors are not blocked
open

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 Plan for Fire
Emergencies...
 Read & understand the fire evacuation
plan for your area
 Know the location of at least two (2)
emergency exits
 Know the location of fire alarm pull
stations and fire extinguishers
 Take part in fire drills
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 Plan for Fire
Emergencies...

 Have you ever stayed at a hotel and taken the time to look
at the evacuation plan posted on the inside of the room
door?

 Think about the following, you’re awakened at 3am from a

sound sleep to hear this loud whistling sound or horn
blaring. As you begin to wake up you smell smoke and
suddenly you are no longer sleepy.

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 Plan for Fire
Emergencies...
 You run to the door, feel it for heat and open it.
The hallway is full of thick black smoke, and it
invades your room and your lungs, choking you.
You fall to the floor and start to crawl forward
looking for the exit signs. Only you can not see
them and you do not know where the stairs are.
And you think to your self ....... your alarm rings
and you wake up, it was only a dream. But it
could happen. Always be prepared, know your
role in the event of a facility fire and take an active
part.
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 In Case of Fire...
 Remain calm. Don’t panic or cause
confusion. NEVER shout fire.
 Proceed safely to nearest fire exit
 Feel surfaces of doors before opening
 Crawl to exit if smoke is present in area
 Follow instructions of Fire Department
 Remember R.A.C.E. and P.A.S.S.
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 R.A.C.E. for
Fire Safety...
 Rescue anyone in immediate danger.
 Activate the fire alarm pull station
 Contain the fire
 Extinguish the fire, if your safety can
be assured

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 P.A.S.S. for Fire
Extinguisher Use...
 Pull the pin
 Aim at base of the fire
 Squeeze the handles together
 Sweep from side to side

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 Classes of Fire

Ordinary Flammable Involving Combustible

Combustibles Liquids Electricity Metals

The most common fire extinguisher used in healthcare

is multiclass, or what is termed an ABC class
extinguisher. 10
 Fire Drills...
 Conducted every quarter on every shift in
Hospital
 Respond immediately as if actual fire.
Remember R.A.C.E. and P.A.S.S.
 All corridor fire doors are connected to fire
alarm & detection system and will close
automatically once activated

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 Fire Drills...
Fire doors are designed to withstand
fire, heat and smoke for a period of
20-minutes to 3 hours.
 Did you know that corridor doors are
fire doors and should have a 20
minute rating?
 Corridor laboratory doors should
have a 60 minute rating.
 Fire Doors are required to:
 Be Self Closing: fire doors should
have a door closure that pulls doors
completely shut after the door has
been opened
 Have Positive latching: a positive
latch locks a door in place so can
open swing open freely.

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No Smoking
Policy...
 Smoking by anyone,
which includes patients,
visitors, medical staff,
associates, and visitors is
prohibited inside the
buildings.

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Electrical Safety Briefing

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 What is Electricity?
 A medium that provides a very
convenient means for transferring energy
from one place to another
 Correctly used, electricity is our most
versatile form of energy
 Control of most electrical hazards is
neither difficult or expensive, but
ignoring them can cause serious
consequences
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 Characteristics of
Electricity...

 Electricity has most of the

characteristics of water, in that it
flows and has a current that can
be measured

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Electrical Faults Result in
Shock, Burns or Fire...
Flow of Current
 Occurs when a person or
conducting object bridges
gap between live
conductors and ground or
between live conductors.
This action causes current
to flow.

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 Electrical Faults Result in
Shock, Burns or Fire...
 This is the reasoning behind birds on
high voltage wires and why they do not
fry. Since the bird is only on the wire
there is no conduction between ground
or other live conductors. However, if I
go to trim my trees and touch the wires
or place my ladder on the wires, I have
bridged the gap between the live
conductor and the ground. Current
flows from the line through my body
and gets discharged into the ground.
That is a big OUCH!

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 Electrical Faults Result
In Shock, Burns or Fire...
Static Electricity
 Occurs when static
electrical charges
accumulate from
friction between
dissimilar materials.
Discharge of static
electricity causes a mild
shock.
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 Causes Of Electric
Shock...
 Current flow is the factor that causes
injury in electric shock; body resistance
will determine the path of flow
 Once the skin is broken, a victim will
have sharply reduced internal
resistance to the flow of current

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 Low Voltage Lethal Shock
Computations...
 Circuits of 110 volts or less can kill
when the conditions are right. This is
regular household current.

 Synchronized cardioversion 100mA

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 Overcurrent Devices...

 Protect circuit from excessive heating by

opening the circuit automatically in event
of excessive current flow from accidental
ground, short circuit, or overload.

 Examples include fuses and circuit

breakers.

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 Ground Fault Circuit
Interrupter...
 GFCI is a fast-acting circuit
breaker that is sensitive to
very low levels of current
leakage (5mA) to ground.
When leakage becomes
hazardous, it interrupts
circuit.

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Ground Fault Circuit
Interrupter...
 You can find GFCIs in
what electricians call
“wet” areas such as the
bathroom and kitchen.
GFCIs are normally used
for outside wiring outlets
also.

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 Electrical Safety
Policy...
 An equipment management plan exists to
identify, evaluate, inventory, and maintain
medical equipment to reduce the physical
and health risks associated with its usage
 All biomedical and electrical equipment
used in a Hospital must be inspected and
tested prior to use and labeled with a
safety sticker

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 Electrical Safety
Policy...
 All electrical devices a patient may bring
into the hospital need to be inspected and
tested prior to use and labeled with a
safety sticker prior to their use.

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 Electrical Safety
Rules...
 Visually inspect all equipment for damage
prior to use
 Do not use extension cords for permanent
wiring
 Unplug equipment by pulling on the plug and
not the cord
 Damaged or defective biomedical/electrical
equipment must be removed from service and
reported to appropriate authority for repair
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 Electrical Safety
Rules...
 Keep fluids, chemicals, and heat away from
equipment, cords, and cables
 Maintain sufficient access around equipment &
panels for operations/maintenance
 Do not touch energized/conductive surfaces
with one hand while touching the patient with
the other
 Know the function of each control prior to
using equipment
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 Emergency Power
 Hospitals are equipped with emergency
generators which will start automatically if
there is a loss of electrical power
 Emergency generators are tested monthly
in Hospitals
 Red electrical outlets provide emergency
power for critical patient care equipment

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 Points to Remember
 Just to recap,fire requires three
elements. Heat source, fuel and
oxygen. When one is absent, there can
be no fire.
 It is important to take an active part in
fire drills so that you are aware of what
your role is in the event of a fire.
 Remember R.A.C.E. and P.A.S.S.

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 Points to Remember
 Electricity is a convenient source of
energy but should not be taken for
granted.
 It has a current that can be measured and
if not respected can kill.
 The human body has the ability to
conduct electricity and serves as the
conducting object when an individual
touches a live circuit. 31
 Points to Remember
 All patient electrical devices must be
checked and cleared by biomed prior to
use in the facility, they will have a tag
attached when this has been completed.
 Most of electrical safety, and for that
matter fire safety, involves common
sense and an ability to keep your eyes
open for hazards in the work place.
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