News

Surveyors like evacuation preparation

Surveyors were impressed with SRMC's staff training for Med Sleds®, which are portable rescue sleds that allow clinicians to quickly evacuate patients out of units and down stairs by dragging them along the ground. SRMC has instructed 105 people on Med Sled evacuation techniques by using three-person training teams, in which each participant takes turns manning the head and rear of the sled and acting as a mock patient strapped to the device. The teams practice negotiating stairwells with the sleds, Smith says. About 10% of the hospital's 1,049 employees are now familiar with Med Sled use, and each of the facility's eight units has a regular-size and bariatric sled available.

ER employees wondered why they had to train on the sled use given that they are on the ground floor, but Smith's reasoning is that those workers may be called to the upper levels to assist in evacuations during a fire or other emergency. One survey readiness tactic that Smith employs on environmental rounds is to ask nurses to find the location of the nearest portable fire extinguisher. "I give them a minute to find it and I time them," she says. "And they're hustling if they can't find it."
If a minute expires and a nurse has been unable to point out the extinguisher's location, Smith shows him or her, and then requests that the nurse tell everyone else on the unit about the extinguisher's location, too. That way, many staff members can benefit from the education.

View PDF of entire report

Request More Information

Contact us about one of our Evactuation Devices

Interested In:



News/Press view all