According to a national study by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), fire departments across the United States responded to 1,291,500 fires in 2019. To put that into perspective, that is the loss of 3,700 civilian lives, 16,600 injuries, and a staggering financial loss of 14.8 billion dollars. Now for a moment, imagine if one of the 3,700 lives lost was someone you loved, someone you are responsible for in your hospital or if the financial loss was in your hospital. Most of these fires were followed by independent investigations that determined the causes, but bear in mind that there is a fine line between causes and fault. In 1949 a hospital in Illinois called the St. Anthony Hospital caught fire and to the investigation, closed with the cause of the fire noted ‘unknown’. One can surmise that the fault can be traced to the administration who failed to install the necessary fire hazard protocols, and the loss of 74 lives can be claimed as their fault. Today the world is run by cutthroat lawmakers who will sue you if you are at fault. To conclude these figures, one may wonder how all of this can be minimized, to which the answer would be to ensure proper fire hazard protocols; which here at Integrity Fire Safety Services we help you to achieve!

Fire Safety in Health Facilities

Colorado has 119 hospitals and functioning health facilities in 64 counties; these hospitals provide essential care to 5.759 million state residents who trust the facilities. We here at Integrity Safety Services believe in the integral value of trust in a society, and we think that there is no better way to ensure trust than safety. To say the least, we value precision in our work and guarantee it. Our systems include sprinklers, backflows, fire doors, exit lights, hood suppression, fire pumps, portable fire extinguishers, anti-freeze, check valve, standpipe, dry valve and preaction. As stated before, we believe in the necessary foundations of trust for which we believe that these systems guarantee utmost safety for the health facilities. People visit these treatment facilities, and these health facilities make them feel safe. Our fire safety services and expertise lower the possibility of accidents like the St Anthony Hospital fire of 1949 so they don’t occur again since we have minimized the factor of fault. Each of our systems is coordinated to the latest designs, compliant with the fire safety protocols of the state, namely by the NFPA 101 (Life Safety Code), The Joint Commision (TJC) and CMS (Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services).

In addition, we believe in the maintenance of our systems. Based on the systems we provide annual, semi-annual or quarterly testing and inspections, again minimizing any element of fault. Furthermore, our systems are subject to a thorough inspection and testing before approval for installation. Many fire hazards in the state of Colorado have been traced back to faulty systems that were not appropriately maintained; fire extinguishers had their release systems compromised, fire sprinklers were installed but were rusty and non-usable, the fire evacuation systems were installed but not used in years; thus, quite vulnerable to damages. All of that at Integrity Fire Safety Services is thought of and taken care of with our inspections and maintenance promises. Since the health facilities in the state are primarily insured, it would also be of information to our partners that insurance companies do penalize faulty fire hazard systems if the matter comes to compensation money in a fire hazard.

Minimizing Patient Disruption

Most of the healthcare facilities in the state are equipped with intensive care units and critical care patients who need minute to minute care. Their life is purely dependent on the services provided at the healthcare facility. There have been events in the past where minor fire hazards have caused massive disruptions to health care facilities compromising the safety and care given to these critical patients. It is also to be noted that if the health provider is deemed guilty in such a scenario, they can be subject to million-dollar suits. We here at Integrity Fire Safety Services have a system to minimize damage with consistent and timely test and inspection services. Our inspectors are experienced, trained and certified to minimize disruption in the patient environment of care while maintaining compliance through periodic inspections, testing and maintenance of life safety systems.

Imagine a fire breaks out at the laboratory of the health care facility. The buildings’ fire alarm system would identify the specific location. It would then set off a series of functions to control the spread of smoke and fire as well as notify first responders to take appropriate action. Also meaning the whole hospital does not have to be compromised and minimal disruption occurs to the patients. In surgery, every surgeon tries to go in with the minimally invasive technique; thus, the patient can recover in the shortest time and be vulnerable to the least complications. At Integrity Fire Safety Services, we provide fire safety services to ensure that in the event of a fire or other emergency within the healthcare facility these systems are working and up to code. Regular test and inspection services are needed on multiple devices to stay compliant and ensure the life safety equipment will work in case of an emergency.

Inspection and Installation

As mentioned above, we take patient care seriously and ensure the least disruption to any patient. Our technicians inspect and install fire and life safety systems at the most convenient times, meaning the least busy time for the patient visits and normal care. Given the time frame to us, we can make sure that our scheduled visits are at times where no critical care requiring a patient is disturbed.

We are trained in preventing patient disruption and providing adequate documentation. We also have a dedicated healthcare team so you can expect the same people each time. They will get to know your specific healthcare facility and each fire and life safety aspect of the property. Integrity Fire cares about your patients health, safety and recovery in a stable environment.

Conclusion

We at Integrity Fire Safety Services are built on the foundations of trust and safety. We provide fire and life safety systems and test and inspections services for health care facilities, which is another institution built on the same foundations of trust and safety. We do not want our customers to be involved in future fire accident figures by the NFPA and work to minimize accidents like the St Anthony Hospital of 1949 in Illinois. Our systems and services are compliant with NFPA codes, TJC and CMS protocols and will be adequately maintained attested. Each of our team members, including technicians, ensure minimal patient disruption when working in healthcare facilities to properly manage the fire and life safety systems within. Choose us, and we will pay your trust by our promises of safety.