A recent fire and electrical outage at a West Coast data center disrupted three hospitals’ access to the Internet, e-mail, phone and pager service, and electronic medical records for four-and-a-half hours. During that time, new records had to be taken manually as a parallel system only allowed reading of medical records.
Detection Logic, a UTC Fire & Security Company of Phoenix, Arizona, rose to the challenge to win the design and installation of the fire system job for the massive expansion and renovation of Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
The fire and life safety contractor shares how project magnitude and special requirements impact planning. Hospitals are complex buildings in terms of fire safety — quite different from any other type of building. As a result, in a dedicated patient-care environment, fire systems can be very complex and several common practices may not apply. So [...]
Nowhere can you find a more vulnerable population than in the healthcare field. Patients place their trust in the hands of their caretakers, from bedridden adults in orthopedic wards and incubated infants in critical care centers, to residents of nursing homes with Alzheimer’s disease or those recovering from rehabilitative surgery. The professionals who work in [...]
LifeSafety interviews Donald Goosman, construction manager at Rolf Jensen & Associates, a nationwide fire-protection and security consultancy, on the role of fire- and life-safety engineers during renovation projects. Q. Tell us the first steps you take to design the fire- and life-safety system for a building that is going to be renovated for a completely [...]
An interview with Barnes-Jewish Hospital’s manager of plant operations. Mike Menzel, manager of plant operations for Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, attributes the safety of patients and staff to a strict adherence to fire-protection codes, by-the-book installations and a commitment to maintenance and training. Menzel oversees 6.5 million square feet of space at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, [...]
Patrick Williams is a fire alarm systems designer for S.A. Comunale Co. Inc., a mechanical and fire protection contractor in Marion, Ohio. Although the company provides services to many industries, he says that the amount of work relating to healthcare, nursing homes in particular, is increasing. Williams offers insight into local changes and the industry’s readiness to accept life safety updates.
The importance of fire and life safety in healthcare facilities is paramount given the vulnerability and diversity of their occupants and the high potential for fire, compounded by the expected growth within the industry.