By Jeff Wardon, Jr., Assistant Editor

In healthcare facilities, fire protection is rarely a single system. Sprinklers, alarms and suppression technologies are designed to control and contain a fire, but they rely heavily on fire-rated walls, smoke compartments and properly installed firestopping to prevent it from spreading. During renovations and routine upgrades, however, those passive protections can be compromised, and sometimes in small, overlooked ways that create significant risk. 

Healthcare Facilities Today spoke with Pamela Reno, regional practice leader at Telgian Engineering & Consulting, LLC, about how active and passive fire protection systems work together in hospitals, why firestopping failures are a recurring challenge during renovation projects and what healthcare facilities can do to strengthen inspection, testing and maintenance programs without disrupting patient care. 

HFT: How do active fire protection systems and passive fire protection features work together in healthcare facilities, and why is neither sufficient on its own? 

Pamela Reno: Obviously, your active fire protection systems are things like sprinklers, fire alarm detection, and specialty suppression systems such as clean agent systems, kitchen hood suppression, that sort of thing. Your passive protection is more about smoke compartmentation, fire-rated walls and barriers. 

Smoke compartments are typically limited to a specific size; you can only have them cover so much area. So, when we think about fire, the question becomes: what is the best course of action? Are we going to be able to contain it, extinguish it — what’s the plan? 

The main purpose of sprinklers is containment. They are designed to keep a fire in one area so it does not spread to the rest of the hospital. But that is why it’s so important to also have fire-rated walls and smoke barriers in place. If you only rely on sprinklers and do not have one-hour or two-hour rated walls and proper compartmentation, you are missing a critical layer of protection. 

Even though sprinklers are designed to control a fire, things happen. That is where those fire-rated barriers come in; they help prevent the fire from moving into other areas of the hospital. All of these systems need to work together cohesively. When they do, it creates a much safer environment for patients, visitors and staff. 

HFT: From your perspective, which passive fire protection elements — such as fire barriers, smoke compartments, and firestopping — are most frequently compromised during renovations or daily operations? 

Reno: Without a doubt, the biggest issue is firestopping. 

A lot of times during renovations, especially smaller projects, firestopping becomes an afterthought. If it’s not a full-scale renovation and maybe just an IT upgrade where they are pulling cables, sometimes the penetrations made through fire-rated barriers get overlooked. I am not saying that happens all the time, but it does happen. 

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When pipes, cables, gas lines or other utilities penetrate fire-rated walls or barriers, those openings have to be properly protected. Too often, once the work is done, people think, “OK, I am finished,” but the firestopping has not been properly addressed — or it fails inspection later. 

Those penetrations need to be constantly monitored, especially during renovations. They have the potential to compromise the entire fire barrier if they are not protected correctly. 

In new construction, there are typically strict checklists. When I worked in healthcare construction, we could not move on to the next phase until all firestopping was complete and verified. With renovations, it can be different. If interim life safety measures are in place, that adds another layer of oversight — making sure contractors are using the right materials and the correct firestop system. 

It’s also important to understand it’s not just about putting in “that red stuff,” as people like to call it. Firestopping is a tested system designed for a specific type of fire barrier and penetration. That is one of the biggest recurring challenges in healthcare facilities. 

HFT: What best practices can healthcare facilities adopt to ensure ongoing inspection, testing, and maintenance of both active and passive fire protection systems without disrupting care delivery? 

Reno: A lot of hospitals have their own scheduling systems, especially for ITM — inspection, testing and maintenance. They will schedule certain buildings or areas each month to verify that nothing has been compromised and to double-check sprinkler systems and other life safety components. 

It’s critical to stay on a schedule and make sure you’re adhering to it. Also, when renovations happen, many hospitals have implemented an internal permit process. I know some people hear “permit” and think external building permits, but this is different — it’s a hospital-controlled access permit. 

For example, you may need a permit just to access the ceiling. Once that permit is issued, there are specific steps you have to follow to ensure you are not disrupting patient care and that you are protecting fire and life safety systems. 

For me, it really comes down to having a solid schedule and sticking to it. That is something many healthcare organizations are continuing to develop — structured inspection, testing and maintenance programs that protect patients without disrupting operations. 

That internal permit process is also important because it holds contractors accountable. It keeps procedures in place, ensures compliance and reinforces that life safety systems cannot be treated casually even during small projects. 

Jeff Wardon, Jr., is the assistant editor for the facilities market.