Current through all regulations passed and filed through September 16, 2024
(A) Each operator
shall provide, maintain, and keep current a written disaster preparedness plan
to be followed in case of emergency or disaster. A copy of the plan shall be
readily available at all times within the nursing home. The nursing home shall
ensure that each staff member, consultant and volunteer is trained and
periodically updated about the home's disaster preparedness plan and
understands their role in the event of fire or other disaster or emergency. The
plan shall include the following:
(1)
Procedures for evacuating all individuals in the nursing home, including:
(a) Provisions for evacuating residents with
physical or cognitive impairments;
(b) Provisions for transporting all of the
residents of the nursing home to a predetermined appropriate facility or
facilities that will accommodate all the residents in the event a disaster
requires long-term evacuation of the nursing home; and
(c) A written transfer agreement, renewed
biannually, with the appropriate facility or facilities for accommodating all
of the residents of the nursing home in case of a disaster requiring evacuation
of the nursing home;
(2)
A plan for protection of all persons in the event of fire and when the fire
alarm or sprinkler system is undergoing maintenance or inoperative, and
procedures for fire control and evacuation, including a fire watch in
accordance with rule
1301:7-7-09 of the
Administrative Code.
(3) Procedures
for locating missing residents, including notification of local law
enforcement;
(4) Procedures for
ensuring the health and safety of residents during severe weather situations,
such as tornadoes and floods, and designation of tornado shelter areas in the
home; and
(5) Procedures, as
appropriate, for ensuring the health and safety of residents in nursing homes
located in close proximity to areas known to have specific disaster potential,
such as airports, chemical processing plants, and railroad tracks.
(B) Each operator shall conduct
the following drills, unless the state fire marshal allows a home to vary from
this requirement and the nursing home has written documentation to this effect
from the state fire marshal:
(1) Twelve fire
exit drills every year, approximately every three months on each shift to
familiarize nursing home personnel with signals and emergency action required
under varied times and conditions. Fire exit drills shall include the
transmission of a fire alarm signal to the appropriate fire department or
monitoring station, verification of receipt of that signal, and simulation of
emergency fire conditions except that the movement of infirm and bedridden
residents to safe areas or to the exterior of the structure is not required.
Drills conducted between nine p.m. and six a.m. may use a coded announcement
instead of an audible alarm. The nursing home shall reset the alarms after each
drill; and
(2) At least two
disaster preparedness drills per year, one of which shall be a tornado drill
which shall occur during the months of March through July.
(C) Each operator shall keep a written record
and evaluation of each conducted drill and practice which shall include the
date, time, employee attendance, effectiveness of the plan, and training format
used. This record shall be on file in the nursing home for three
years.
(D) Each operator shall
provide and post in a conspicuous place in each section and on each floor of
the nursing home a correctly-oriented, wall-specific floor plan designating
room use, locations of alarm sending stations, fire extinguishers, fire hoses,
exits and flow of resident evacuation.
(E) Each operator shall provide for annual
training in fire prevention for regularly scheduled staff members on all
shifts, to be conducted by the state fire marshal or township, municipal, or
local legally constituted fire department. The operator shall require all staff
members to be periodically instructed in the home's fire control and evacuation
and disaster procedures and kept informed of their duties under the evacuation
plan.
(F) Each operator shall
conduct at least monthly a fire safety inspection which shall be recorded on
forms provided by the department and kept on file in the nursing home for three
years.
(G)
Each nursing home shall install and maintain carbon monoxide
alarms or carbon monoxide detectors in accordance with manufacturer's
directions. Carbon monoxide alarms shall be installed in the following
locations:
(1)
On the ceiling of each room containing a permanently
installed fuel-burning appliance; and
(2)
Centrally located
on every habitable level and in every heating/ventilation/air conditioning zone
of the building.
(H)
Nursing homes
licensed as such prior to the effective date of this rule have twelve months to
come into compliance with paragraph (G) of this rule.
(I)
For purposes of
this rule:
(1)
"Carbon monoxide alarm" means a single- or multiple-station
alarm tested to underwriters laboratory standard 2034, that is intended for the
purpose of detecting carbon monoxide gas and alerting occupants by a distinct
audible signal comprising an assembly that incorporates a sensor, control
components, and an alarm notification appliance in a single unit operated from
a power source either located in the unit or obtained at the point of
installation;
(2)
"Carbon monoxide detector" means a device tested to
underwriters laboratory standard 2075 that is intended to be connected to a
carbon monoxide detection system for the purpose of detecting carbon monoxide
gas and alerting occupants by a distinct and audible signal;
and
(3)
"Carbon monoxide detection system means" a system of
devices that consists of a control panel and circuits arranged to monitor and
annunciate the status of carbon monoxide detectors and to initiate the
appropriate response to those signal.
