Fire Prevention and Evacuation in an Intensive Care Unit : Taking a Medical Center as an Example

• Main Authors: Chien-Fu Chen, 陳建富
• Other Authors: Wen-Hu Tsao
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2015
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/t67vfg

碩士 === 中華科技大學 === 土木防災與管理碩士班 === 103 === A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment. However, a patient died after a fire broke out at the National Taiwan University Hospital while he was undergoing surgery, and 11 medical professionals suffered various degrees of smoke inhalation. Nevertheless, 13 seriously ill patients died in a fire started by an arsonist at the Beimen Sinying branch of Tainan Hospital. These fire disasters happened in a health care institution have raised the questions in regard to fire response and hospital safety. Thus, it is very important to adopt an efficient and safety evacuation strategy. The purpose of this study was to investigate the evacuation strategy of one of the hospital in New Taipei City. A review of the literature was used to develop a basic foundation for the research in terms of the hospital emergency response plans and fire response in Taiwan and abroad. These basic data was then used in the implementation of on-site field surveys to examine the spatial layout of the hospital and the evacuation routes within the department. Furthermore, expert interviews and fire-fighting simulation training were also used to develop more concrete conclusions for the revision and adjustment of response plans. The results show that safety training may decrease the flame spread time. Secondly, adopting “Sheltering in Place” or “Horizontal Evacuation” could reduce the number of patients evacuating. Finally, evacuating patients with the help of fire fighters will remedy the lack of manpower of medical professionals.