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Should all nursing homes be required to install sprinkler systems?
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Advocates of automatic sprinklers for
nursing and group homes pointed to Monday's deadly blaze at an
Anderson group home as a grim reminder of why the systems should be
standard equipment in long-term care facilities.
Ten people died and at least 18 were sent to hospitals early
Monday after a fire broke out at the Anderson Guest House, a care
home for the elderly and mentally ill. The home had smoke alarms
but no sprinklers.
"You can't prevent fires from happening at all times," said
Susan Feeney, a spokeswoman for the American Health Care
Association, a trade group representing nursing homes. "However,
having automatic sprinkler systems and other fire safety devices
can save lives, which is critically important for very vulnerable
patient populations, including the frail, elderly and disabled."
It's unclear how Monday's victims died, either by burns or smoke
inhalation, or whether they were adequately warned by smoke alarms.
In Missouri, only certain types of long-term care facilities are
required to have comprehensive sprinkler systems and only in
certain circumstances, such as those that house residents on a
second floor. The one-story Anderson Guest House was built before
1980 and was not required to have sprinklers.
"We'll definitely be looking to see what the investigation
finds and looking at what changes might be needed and then
certainly we'll see whether any of our current regulations were
violated," said Nanci Gonder, a spokeswoman for the Department of
Health and Senior Services. "The investigation should yield
information about what happened, maybe about how the response
happened. We'll be looking at all of that."
About 80 percent of nursing homes have comprehensive automatic
sprinkler systems, according to a January survey of American Health
Care Association members. Gonder said the survey did not include
group homes, which often face less-stringent requirements by the
states that license them.
The association began pushing for mandatory sprinklers for all
nursing homes after deadly blazes in facilities in Connecticut in
Tennessee.
In February 2003, a patient suffering from dementia and multiple
sclerosis set fire to her bed and burned down the Greenwood Health
Center in Hartford, Conn., killing 16 residents. Six months later,
in September 2003, a fire killed 15 patients in Nashville, Tenn.
Neither nursing home had an automatic sprinkler system.
Recently, the federal agency that oversees the safety of nursing
homes issued a proposed regulation calling for all nursing
facilities to have comprehensive sprinkler systems. The agency has
asked for comments about how much time an estimated 2,500 older
facilities without sprinklers should have to comply with its
proposed rule.
Currently, federal regulations require that newly constructed
nursing homes or those undergoing major renovations to include
sprinkler systems. But states are free to enact more-stringent
requirements. Fourteen now require nursing homes to have sprinkler
systems to operate, according to the American Health Care
Association.
"It is most certain this will happen," Feeney said of the
regulation.
But Feeney noted the proposed regulation would not affect group
homes, which are not subject to the same federal oversight.
Still, she said the deadly Missouri blaze could lead to a push
for individual states to toughen their fire-safety requirements
governing group homes.
Evvie Munley, senior policy analyst for the American Association
of Homes and Services for the Aging, said her group has long
supported comprehensive sprinkler systems for nursing homes as long
as the facilities are given adequate money and time to meet the
requirement. She noted some owners may choose to build new
facilities rather than retrofit older buildings.
And she said there could be support for requiring other types of
long-term care facilities to add sprinkler systems.
"I think no one is going to oppose the idea of sprinklers for
long-term care facilities with vulnerable populations, but the same
considerations would apply - resources and a phase in to allow
people to contract for this and acquire it," Munley said. "No one
would oppose sprinklering for facilities with vulnerable
populations."
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Smoke alarms are not enough. The elderly can not react quickly enough to evacuate a building. Their physical limitations can prevent them from a successful escape. Surely, sprinkler systems would save lives. Your opinions?
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Advocates of automatic sprinklers for
nursing and group homes pointed to Monday's deadly blaze at an
Anderson group home as a grim reminder of why the systems should be
standard equipment in long-term care facilities.
Ten people died and at least 18 were sent to hospitals early
Monday after a fire broke out at the Anderson Guest House, a care
home for the elderly and mentally ill. The home had smoke alarms
but no sprinklers.
"You can't prevent fires from happening at all times," said
Susan Feeney, a spokeswoman for the American Health Care
Association, a trade group representing nursing homes. "However,
having automatic sprinkler systems and other fire safety devices
can save lives, which is critically important for very vulnerable
patient populations, including the frail, elderly and disabled."
It's unclear how Monday's victims died, either by burns or smoke
inhalation, or whether they were adequately warned by smoke alarms.
In Missouri, only certain types of long-term care facilities are
required to have comprehensive sprinkler systems and only in
certain circumstances, such as those that house residents on a
second floor. The one-story Anderson Guest House was built before
1980 and was not required to have sprinklers.
"We'll definitely be looking to see what the investigation
finds and looking at what changes might be needed and then
certainly we'll see whether any of our current regulations were
violated," said Nanci Gonder, a spokeswoman for the Department of
Health and Senior Services. "The investigation should yield
information about what happened, maybe about how the response
happened. We'll be looking at all of that."
About 80 percent of nursing homes have comprehensive automatic
sprinkler systems, according to a January survey of American Health
Care Association members. Gonder said the survey did not include
group homes, which often face less-stringent requirements by the
states that license them.
The association began pushing for mandatory sprinklers for all
nursing homes after deadly blazes in facilities in Connecticut in
Tennessee.
In February 2003, a patient suffering from dementia and multiple
sclerosis set fire to her bed and burned down the Greenwood Health
Center in Hartford, Conn., killing 16 residents. Six months later,
in September 2003, a fire killed 15 patients in Nashville, Tenn.
Neither nursing home had an automatic sprinkler system.
Recently, the federal agency that oversees the safety of nursing
homes issued a proposed regulation calling for all nursing
facilities to have comprehensive sprinkler systems. The agency has
asked for comments about how much time an estimated 2,500 older
facilities without sprinklers should have to comply with its
proposed rule.
Currently, federal regulations require that newly constructed
nursing homes or those undergoing major renovations to include
sprinkler systems. But states are free to enact more-stringent
requirements. Fourteen now require nursing homes to have sprinkler
systems to operate, according to the American Health Care
Association.
"It is most certain this will happen," Feeney said of the
regulation.
But Feeney noted the proposed regulation would not affect group
homes, which are not subject to the same federal oversight.
Still, she said the deadly Missouri blaze could lead to a push
for individual states to toughen their fire-safety requirements
governing group homes.
Evvie Munley, senior policy analyst for the American Association
of Homes and Services for the Aging, said her group has long
supported comprehensive sprinkler systems for nursing homes as long
as the facilities are given adequate money and time to meet the
requirement. She noted some owners may choose to build new
facilities rather than retrofit older buildings.
And she said there could be support for requiring other types of
long-term care facilities to add sprinkler systems.
"I think no one is going to oppose the idea of sprinklers for
long-term care facilities with vulnerable populations, but the same
considerations would apply - resources and a phase in to allow
people to contract for this and acquire it," Munley said. "No one
would oppose sprinklering for facilities with vulnerable
populations."
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Smoke alarms are not enough. The elderly can not react quickly enough to evacuate a building. Their physical limitations can prevent them from a successful escape. Surely, sprinkler systems would save lives. Your opinions?
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