Care Homes Regulations
The manager of a care home should ensure that all areas of the home which allow access to people are hazardless and the risks are identified. The manager should also possess a qualification in Leadership and Management in Care Services - or Registered Managers Award. They should let the Care Quality Commission know if anything in the care home happens that may cause harm to the residents or may make them feel unsafe. The manager should also suspend an employee if they think the employee may be a danger to anyone in the care home.
The manager of Riverdale House should ensure that the safety of the residents is paramount. They should make sure the clients suffering from dementia and vulnerable individuals are supervised at all times, to avoid them from getting harmed.
A Christmas party is being held in a care home and the staff must carry out a risk assessment to ensure everyone stays safe during the party.
Case study 1: ‘Chesterfield Royal Hospital fire shuts Accident & Emergency department’
‘A fire broke out at a hospital in Derbyshire, closing its emergency department as staff rushed to move patients to safety. The blaze broke out at 21:20 on Saturday in a newsagent’s shop in the main entrance to Chesterfield Royal Hospital. Staff immediately closed the A&E department and 15 patients on stretchers had to be moved. All emergency admissions are being diverted to other hospitals. Ten dire appliances were sent to the scene and the blaze was put out after midnight, but crews have remained at the scene extinguishing hot spots. There was reported to be considerable smoke and fire damage to the A&E reception area and the fracture clinic, as the flames had spread through a roof space.
‘Extensive damage’
Chesterfield Royal’s head of communications, Sarah Turner-Saint, said: “We are asking people not to attend A&E until further notice. We are taking advice from the fire service, but at the present time it is not safe to take emergency patients.” She said there were no plans to evacuate any wards and no-one had been injured in the fire. Eric Morton, the hospital’s chief executive, said: “There is extensive damage to some areas but we will work as quickly as we can to repair this. We hope to have services back up to full strength within the next couple of days – albeit with some longer term reconstruction.” An investigation into the cause of the fire will begin later.’
In this incident, my first response would be to make sure everyone’s safe. The fire brigade should be called, and the staff of the hospital must ensure that all the patients are evacuated safely through the fire exits and are situated at a safe place and not near the building, since it has a risk of collapsing. Because the A&E department was shut down, the staff must call and inform other nearby hospitals about the incident as soon as possible, and ask if they have space on their A&E department so the patient can be diverted.
Staff must remain calm and reassure the patients that everything is fine, to give them confidence. Some patients may be in shock, so emotional support has to be given.
The most dangerous outcome may be if someone gets trapped inside the building. The staff may not be able to reach them, so till the fire brigade arrives; the person must keep themselves safe. The best thing to do for them is to move to a room with an outside window and to close the door behind them and put something along the gap at the bottom of the door in order to prevent the smoke from coming in. They will then need to shout for help through the opened window to passers-by. This will ensure that the fire brigade make you their priority when they arrive.
In some cases, people who are not aware of the fire or don’t know where the fire is, may enter the building. When coming across a closed door, they should feel the door with the back of their hand and if it is hot, it means there is fire burning behind the door. In that case, the door should not be opened because it can cause the fire to flare into their face, and it is important not to touch the handle or any other metal as it will be extremely hot.
Although the staff or passers-by do not need to calm the fire and are not expected to, it can be helpful of they try to minimise the fire. For example, closing the doors behind them when evacuating the building can prevent the fire from spreading, due to the lack of oxygen. In some cases, it may even cause the fire to extinguish by itself.
Some of the outcomes of the emergency and incident may have affected individuals and their health. During the fire in case study1, for example, the smoke may have suffocated or caused asthma attacks and breathing difficulties for some patients. Also, because the A&E department is closed, the patients will now have to travel further to go to other hospitals to get treatment.
Another security risk may be intruders entering the building and taking advantage of the situation. Since there is no one in or around the building, they are able to take equipment and drugs from the hospital.
Case study 2: ‘Patients escape injury as Rotunda ceiling falls’
‘A serious accident was averted at Dublin’s Rotunda Hospital earlier this month after a ceiling collapsed on a busy corridor. The ceiling on the corridor leading to operating theatres on the hospital’s first floor gave way while women were undergoing surgery on a busy Thursday afternoon. Operations at the 254-year-old maternity hospital, which has been suffering from overcrowding in the last few years, were not affected by the collapse. No one was passing through the corridor when the ceiling fell, master of the Rotunda Dr Sam Coulter-Smith said yesterday.’
In this case, the fire brigade should be called to come and clean the rubble that has fallen. The patients should be evacuated to prevent them from getting injured and the staff will need to find out if there is space available in nearby hospitals so the patients can be evacuated. The corridor should be closed down since there is still a risk of the ceiling collapsing further. All staff and patients should be made aware of the incident, and if there has been a witness, they should come forward. The accident should be recorded in the accident book, for query later on.
Staff needs to ensure all patients are fine and support them if they are in shock. Due to the hospital being an old building, there may be a risk of it collapsing, so everyone needs to get evacuated till it is safe enough to enter again, to ensure safety.
During the accident in case study2, there may have been complications or delays while surgery was undergoing. This could have had an impact on the patient. If the incident did affect the surgery, the patient needs to be moved to another room as soon as possible to prevent infection. If the incident did not impact the surgery, they should carry on as usual.
Robbing and stealing becomes easier during emergencies and after incidents since no one is paying attention and there is a lack of security. Medicines and equipment may be stolen or people’s belongings that have been left in the building during evacuating may be taken away.
