Author Archive for Scott Wallask
Scott Wallask is senior managing editor for HCPro's Hospital Safety Center (www.hospitalsafetycenter.com) and the award-winning newsletters, Briefings on Hospital Safety and Healthcare Life Safety Compliance. He has written about healthcare for HCPro since 1998, with a focus on occupational and building safety, emergency management, fire protection, and infection control. Prior to joining HCPro, he worked as a reporter for several newspapers in eastern Massachusetts. He holds a BA in print journalism, magna cum laude, from Northeastern University in Boston. Contact Scott at swallask@hcpro.com.
OSHA’s big messages with new H1N1 compliance directive
Just a quick note that OSHA today posted a compliance directive that helps guide inspectors as they visit hospitals treating potential or confirmed H1N1 swine flu patients.
I think there are two broad messages to take out of the compliance directive: [more]
Yet another safety standard hits The Joint Commission’s top 10
In a quick follow-up to our post last week about The Joint Commission’s top-cited standards for the first half of 2009, a more complete top 10 list now shows another life safety standard in the mix.
LS.02.01.30, which requires [more]
After the Fort Hood shootings, Twitter proves useful for one hospital
For many people, social media sites like Twitter and Facebook are frequently used to quote movie lines or discuss whether they had coffee or hair of the dog with their Corn Flakes. But from a professional standpoint, The Joint Commission is encouraging the use of social sites for emergency management purposes.
Thursday’s shootings at Fort Hood, TX, let one facility rev up its Twitter presence with useful updates and information. [more]
Even splintered, life safety standards top the citation list so far in 2009
When The Joint Commission announced a while back that the old EC.5.20 was the top cited standard in hospitals in 2008, there some observers (including me) who thought that statistic would be hard to repeat. After all, it was reasoned, the all-encompassing EC.5.20 had splintered into various new life safety standards in 2009, none of which would carry the punch of their predecessor.
Well, we non-believers were wrong. Information just released by Joint Commission Resources yesterday shows that for the first half of 2009, two life safety standards and an environment of care standard – all of them related to fire protection requirements – comprised three of the top five most cited standards in hospitals. [more]
New development: CMS now allows six-year damper testing in hospitals
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a memo to its state survey agencies that now formally allows hospitals to use six-year testing frequencies for fire and smoke dampers.
What’s that mean for hospitals? [more]
Doctor stabbed: When something goes wrong, security feels the heat
Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston finds itself in the unenviable position of trying to deal with a pair of high-profile security incidents within the past nine days. [more]
Try a free sample of our customizable paper patients
After months of development, we’re happy to announce our new Emergency Preparedness Solutions series, which we think you’ll like.
The highlight for me, because it’s something I’ve wanted to see us publish for a long time, is a collection of 80 paper patients that are customizable to your hospital’s drill or triage efforts. [more]
In halting mandatory flu shots, NY had to step back
For now, the war drums in New York state can stop beating. In an about-face, New York Governor David Paterson announced yesterday that healthcare workers in the state will no longer be required to receive seasonal or H1N1 flu vaccinations as a condition of employment.
Let’s be blunt: It’s hard to win a battle against nurses. They collectively fuel the engine that runs healthcare, and they also possess a powerful voice. Some nurses get flu shots, some don’t. What New York’s initial rule and subsequent backtracking show [more]
CDC revisions continue to recommend N95 use, but acknowledge supply shortages
The CDC issued revised interim guidelines yesterday to protect healthcare workers from the H1N1 swine flu virus.
The biggest news is that the CDC continues to recommend that healthcare workers wear N95 respirators when [more]
Former Joint Commission VP among those appearing at our one-day emergency management conference
Joseph Cappiello
Get help analyzing your hospital’s disaster plans while also bolstering your professional development during HCPro’s Emergency Management Coordinator’s Workshop, which takes place October 26 in Atlanta.
Our experts for the program include:
- Joseph Cappiello, chair of Cappiello & Associates in Elmhurst, IL, and former vice president for accreditation field operations at The Joint Commission
- James Kendig, vice president of safety and security for Health First, Inc., based in Rockledge, FL
- Mary Russell, senior hospital project manager at the Florida Department of Health’s Office of Public Health Preparedness
Click here to read our speakers’ full bios and our show’s agenda.
