Your Turn To Be A Surveyor

A Cautionary Tale

A real survey may be the first opportunity to discover that fire exit and directional signs do not correctly identify fire exit routes. This is particularly common following renovations of different areas that may have impacted fire egress routes. Instructing staff on the “rules” surrounding fire egress is important to assure not only that they understand how to evacuate patient safely, but also that they understand that it is not permissible to store items in the egress corridors. Instructing staff on how to tell the difference between an exit corridor and a cross corridor (which may be used for storage) is an area that many organizations overlook.

Lessons learned

This picture illustrates one aspect of improving tracer rounds. Ask teams to trace in areas with which they are unfamiliar, and ask them to follow signs to a fire exit. Doing this as the final step of the tracer is most effective, in that it ideally starts at a patient’s bedside and continues until the individual is outside. Tracing down the hallway to a fire door is only one part of the exercise. Following the stairwell down to the street allows for the identification of obstructions in the fire exit stairwell (which would result in Immediate Jeopardy), and tests whether the exit to the street is free of obstruction and snow. Conducting functional tracers like these is especially important when Interim Life Safety Procedures are initially put in place. Plans on paper do not always match those in real life, and tracer teams should be prepared to conduct tracers as new projects become active.