Focus: Fire-Life Safety / Column

Regulations, Codes & Standards Q&A: Does an Actual Alarm Count as a Fire Drill?

Brad Keyes discusses regulations for fire drills

By Brad Keyes / Special to Healthcare Facilities Today


Q: Can an actual fire alarm count as a fire drill? If I have the fire alarm go off for some reason, I would then want to make it count for a drill since the chimes and strobes when off. I have an accreditation surveyor who said that an actual alarm could not count.

A: An actual alarm on the fire alarm system may count as a drill, but only if you evaluate the response of the staff, the building, and the fire alarm system. In a normal drill, you would have observers evaluating that the staff responded correctly, that the doors closed, and the strobes and horns operated properly. For an actual alarm (false or otherwise) count as a drill, you need to evaluate all of those items if you want it to count as a drill. As you can imagine, that does not happen very often so most actual alarms are not used as drills because the evaluation of the staff, the building, and the fire alarm system was not conducted.

Brad Keyes, CHSP, is the owner of KEYES Life Safety Compliance, and his expertise is in the management of the Life Safety Program, including the Environment of Care and Emergency Management programs.



August 5, 2020


Topic Area: Regulations, Codes & Standards


Recent Posts

The Future of Backup Power Systems in Healthcare Facilities

Manufacturers discuss what trends are shaping the future of backup power systems in healthcare.


Infection Control is Key to Ongoing Measles Outbreak

Infection control is essential to protecting both patients and staff from contracting measles.


Kaiser Permanente to Open New Parker Medical Offices

It also announced it's in the early stages of planning a rebuild and expansion of its Westminster Medical Offices.


Skanska Completes Renovation for New Sutter Health Care Center

The new facility will provide internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, as well as lab and imaging services.


Probiotic Cleaners: The Start of a Cleaning Revolution?

Advantages of probiotic cleaning include fewer resistant genes and cost savings through decreased antibiotic use.


 
 


FREE Newsletter Signup Form

News & Updates | Webcast Alerts
Building Technologies | & More!

 
 
 


All fields are required. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.