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| THE ARCHITECT'S ANGLE
September 2013 |
Greetings!
This month we are focusing on Resiliency in Health Care Facilities. Please let us know what you think. We would love to hear from you. |
Resiliency in Health Care Facilities -
"In the Year of the Flood"
 Superstorm Sandy exposed critical weaknesses in the Resiliency of health care systems throughout the North East.
This was especially true for coastal areas and other areas prone to river flooding and flash flooding in New York City, Long Island and New Jersey.
NYC fared fairly well during Sandy, although there were Hospital, Long Term Care and Adult Care Facility closures. This was the case because the Health Care system had excess surge capacity and unaffected neighboring facilities had the ability to "Pick up the Slack".
 The nightmare scenario involves a series of catastrophic events occurring simultaneously during a severe weather event which would significantly reduce an impacted health system's excess capacity. This becomes more likely as the nexus of health services shifts to community based/ambulatory facilities, reducing the reliance on hospitals. There are many community health centers that took months to reopen after Sandy. Some never reopened.
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Emergency Power - Your Facility's Life Line
 In general terms, your facility's Essential Electrical System (EES) consists of a stand-by generator power source and the branch circuits which deliver emergency power where it is needed. However, in real terms, an EES is much more than its technical definition. It is the life line your residents and staff depend on to keep critical systems and equipment operating during an emergency.
Emergency power systems in health facilities are governed by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Code 99 entitled "Health Facilities". Per NFPA 99, facilities providing critical c are are required to have a Type I EES. This, of course, includes hospitals but also includes nursing facilities with dialysis and/or respiratory units. A Type I EES divides the emergency power system into a number of branches, each connected to an automatic transfer switch or ATS. The function of each ATS is to "switch" a given branch from normal to emergency power. The life safety branch, powers emergency & exit lighting, fire alarm & nurse call systems, emergency communication systems, etc. The equipment branch serves a facility's boiler plant, walk-in refrigeration and similar systems. The critical care branch powers dialysis suites, vent units, operating suites and other high risk treatment areas. By creating separate EES branches, the risk of failure of any one branch is reduced. This multi-branch configuration also allows for load-shedding whereby the total load on the generator can be temporarily reduced if there is a danger of an overload. Even older hospitals have a Type I EES. However, most nursing homes that are more than five years old do not. Therefore, when dialysis and vent units first appeared in nursing homes 10 years ago, it was customary to apply to the Health Department for a waiver regarding a Type I EES. In most cases, these waivers were granted.
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We hope you enjoy this month's issue. Do you have questions or feedback about the information provided or regarding your facility that we can answer? Contact us at info@jwbarch.com and we will be happy to provide you with any additional information you may need. We want to continue to offer content that interests you, our readers. Please drop us a line and let us know what topics you might want to learn more about. As always, we love hearing from you.
Sincerely,
John Baumgarten
John W. Baumgarten Architect, P.C.
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