Hospitals in pursuit of excellence

Simulation at its Hottest: Development of a Fire Safety Training Program in a Pediatric Post-Acute Care Setting

In March 2009, after assessing staff's knowledge about fire prevention and safety, St. Mary's Hospital for Children held workshops with the staff to review policies and procedures for fire safety and evacuation. The staff received hands-on opportunities to respond to firerelated case studies and practice with fire extinguishers. Frequent fire drills revealed staff varied in their response to fire alarms and evacuation procedures even after knowledge on fire prevention and safety was validated. In 2010, the hospital established a committee to focus on setting up high fidelity fire simulations for staff response. The initial pilot scenarios confirmed staff needed coaching and reinforcement during response to alarms. Additionally, the scenarios reinforced that the leadership role and teamwork behaviors on the individual patient units required practice to ensure a proper and timely response. Debriefings of the scenarios engaged the staff and led to their development of detailed plans and checklists to improve the units' response. The effectiveness of the fire simulations was measured and remediation has included one-on-one coaching and repeat, alternative simulation scenarios.