All Entries in the "EC" Category

Be ready to defend use of fire blankets in the OR

Fire blanket use in ORs is a topic that crosses my path occasionally. This is yet another one of those instances in which there is just enough information and opinion out there to get you in trouble during surveys if you are using fire blankets in the operating theater.

The ECRI Institute has strongly discouraged the use of fire blankets in the OR. If you check out “A clinician’s guide to surgical fires: how they occur, how to prevent them, how to put them out” at National Guideline Clearinghouse, which cites ECRI in its bibliography, it indicates the following: [more]

Leadership standard cited in fire protection inspection snafu

Hi folks, it’s Scott Wallask logging in. You may not know this, but The Joint Commission’s life safety specialists can cite leadership standards for fire protection deficiencies under certain circumstances.

Take this situation that I just heard about: [more]

The Joint Commission posts even more new FAQs

Hi, it’s Scott Wallask checking in quickly. I was on The Joint Commission’s Web site earlier today and saw that three new and/or revised FAQs had been posted last week dealing with [more]

The best EC performance indicators stem from challenges

I’ve found that the most useful performance indicators are those for which you’ve identified improvement opportunities.

I’m attaching to my post some examples of performance indicators [more]

A new t-shirt for your environmental services workers

Cleaning is always something I look at while conducting mock surveys.

For instance, I like to make sure [more]

Getting clinicians to see the importance of unobstructed fire safety equipment

Having seen the latest statistics on life safety citations (our old friend EC.5.20 — now rolled into the 2009 life safety chapter — was the most cited standard in hospitals in the first half of 2008), it made me think of a discussion I had not all that long ago about fire protection devices and equipment on the floors.

There is a constant battle [more]

Ahh, the fact and fiction about blanket warmer temperatures

The idea of blanket warmer temperatures is a fairly simple proposition that has swelled in importance far beyond its likely impact on patient care. This is partially because of some data-driven recommendations, but also because of certain assumptions made by The Joint Commission’s surveyor cadre.

There’s no nationally recognized standard for blanket warmer temperatures, which leaves it all to you to appropriately manage said temps. So that’s the assumption piece. You can fill in your own humorous aside relative to the merits and results of assuming.

Where things get a little more complicated [more]

Safety education for LIPs doesn’t have to center on test scores

A safety officer at a healthcare system with 800 licensed independent practitioners (LIPs) asked me whether it was acceptable to The Joint Commission that instead of an annual safety test, physicians read material relative to risks in the environment and attest to their knowledge and by signing a form.

She specifically pointed to EC.03.01.01, which requires staff members and LIPs to be familiar with their roles in the EC.

First off, the language involved in establishing the expectations comes down to [more]

Identifying individuals to oversee safety under EC.01.01.01

A little while back I was chatting with someone about EC.01.01.01’s provisions for identifying an individual or individuals to manage safety activities within the environment.

This is kind of an interesting process to set up from a Joint Commission compliance standpoint, as neither [more]

Training for gun incidents, from the latest Briefings on Hospital Safety

Hi folks, it’s Scott Wallask logging on today. Given that most hospitals aren’t using metal detectors at the entrance, it’s not a surprise that some visitors enter the facility carrying guns.

In the p. 1 story of our March issue of Briefings on Hospital Safety [more]