Specific procedures will be maintained for fire emergencies and the evacuation of the facilities. Emergency fire and evacuation drills will be conducted at each facility on an annual basis. The Safety Officer will be responsible for the coordination of the drills and completing the Safety Drill Form following the drill. A copy of the form will be maintained in a safety binder at the site location, and distributed during reporting to the Executive Team.

Fire Procedures: The following are the overall components of the organization’s fire emergency plans. These serve as basic approaches to responding to fire emergencies; however, each site may have additional components due to the nature of the physical layout of the facility and local regulatory requirements. It is the responsibility of the facility Safety Officer to ensure that the special needs and characteristics of each facility are addressed in additional policy and procedure, if appropriate, and that these special needs and characteristics are communicated to all affected persons and the Executive team. The components of the organization’s fire emergency plans are as follows:

  1. In the event of the discovery of a fire, evacuate all individuals from the immediate area.
  2. Close all doors to contain the fire.
  3. If the fire is small, attempt to contain it by using a fire extinguisher.
  4. Announce that there is a fire in the building and the need to immediately evacuate.
  5. Call 911 and report the fire, providing the name and address of the site.
  6. Assist in the evacuation process and account for all persons served, employees, and visitors.
  7. To expedite the evacuation process, all consumers serve and visitors are evacuated first, followed by staff members who will assist all others in evacuation.
  8. All persons will be evacuated and assembled at a location that is pre-determined by each facility as the evacuation assembly area.
  9. The safety officer or designee will provide any special information to arriving emergency personnel such as size and location of fire and location of any flammable or explosive items, and will relinquish control of the situation to the local authorities.
  10. The fire department will be the final authority in determining building re-entry.
  11. If the facility cannot be re-occupied, the designated employee in charge of managing the site will manage, through consultation with the (place responsible position here), the continuation of essential services, as per those procedures contained in this policy.
  12. The Safety Officer will be notified as soon as possible of the incident and an incident report will be completed and processed as per the Critical Incident Policy.

Evacuation Procedures: In the event of an emergency that requires a facility to be evacuated, the following procedures will be as follows:

  1. Evacuation of the facility shall occur should any of the following events occur:
  • Fires: If it is immediately determined that the extent of the fire cannot be contained with quick and direct actions, the building will be evacuated.
  • Violence and/or Aggression: If a crisis situation occurs that involves a direct threat to any persons in the building, the building will be evacuated.
  • Utility Disruption or Crisis: Situations that will necessitate evacuation in this area include gas leaks and electrical malfunctions determined to present a health risk.
  • Noxious Odors or Fumes: If it is determined that there are odors or fumes that are a health risk due to eye, skin, or lung irritation, the building will be evacuated.
  • Bomb Threat: In the event of a bomb threat made toward the organization, the building will be evacuated.

2. In the event it is determined the building should be evacuated, the following procedures will be followed:

  • The Safety Officer will inform all staff of the evacuation order with the activation of fire alarm and verbally.
  • All staff in direct care service areas or in direct contact with persons served will assist the patient(s) in exiting the building through the exits according to the facility emergency exit plan/map. Staff not in direct contact with persons served or patient areas will immediately exit the building according to the facility emergency exit plan/map. Staff in patient areas will check the rest rooms to ensure that all persons evacuate.
  • The Safety Officer will exit the building with the safety binder, in order to access information on contacting emergency personnel.
  • All staff and persons served will proceed to the designated evacuation area (Gas Station Parking Lot) as quickly as possible.
  • The Safety Officer, or designee, will determine if all staff and persons served are present and out of the building, through surveying staff to determine if all persons served being treated during the time of evacuation are accounted for and determining if all staff are also accounted for.
  • Should it be determined that someone in the building is not present outside the building, the Safety Officer will determine if the nature of the emergency presents a threat to life and/or health to the degree that it would not be prudent to re-enter the building briefly to seek the location of the missing individual or individuals. If it is determined that the situation would allow a quick re-entry to locate the missing individual, the Safety Officer will briefly re-enter and call out the name of the individual. If there is not a response, the Safety Officer will exit the building and wait for emergency personnel to arrive and take control of the situation.
  • Should the building not be of the condition to be re-occupied to provide services, the following essential services will be provided until the current facility or another facility can be brought back into full service operation: All administrative operations would occur remotely at the local library.
  • The following emergency phone numbers are for use in the event of an evacuation, and will be maintained on the back-side of the front cover of the Safety Binder:
    • Gas company-BGE (1.800.685.0123)
    • Electric company-BGE (1.800.685.0123)
    • Ambulance-911
    • Hazardous spills-911
    • Police-911
  • Once an emergency evacuation has occurred, the building cannot be re-occupied until the responding emergency authority grants permission that the health and safety of staff and persons served is no longer compromised. Should an immediate re-occupation not be allowed by the authorities, the occupation will be determined through the authority of the entity that is charged to bring the building back into compliance with health and safety standards (BGE company, Baltimore County Fire Department, building inspector, etc.)

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