STANDARDS
The Questions
How well do you really know the standards? Take this short quiz to refresh your memory, test your knowledge, and/or educate your staff about the Environment of Care, Emergency Management, and Life Safety standards and other essential accreditation information. Use the quiz to help brush up on key topics or even to prepare for the Certified Joint Commission Professional™ (CJCP®) exam.* Turn to page 11 for the answers, if you don’t already know them.
What percentage of required quarterly fire drills must be
unannounced?
At least 25%
At least 50% c. 100%
A retractable computer desk located in a 6-foot corridor should be no more than .
36 inches wide and cannot project more than 6 inches into the corridor
36 inches wide and cannot project more than 8 inches
48 inches wide and cannot project more than 6 inches
An organization must test its battery-powered egress lights monthly for .
30 seconds
15 minutes
90 minutes
Walls containing horizontal exits must be fire-rated
for .
¾ hour
1 hour
2 hours
A hospital’s Emergency Operations Plan should describe how it provides for chemical, biological, and isolation and decontamination.
bacterial
viral
radioactive
How did you do? Check the answer key on page 11.
* In January 2013, Joint Commission Resources (JCR) launched its credential for accreditation professionals—Certified Joint Commission Professional™ (CJCP®). Each month, this column features a sample question similar to those that appear on the examination. Please note that the sample questions are NOT actual examination questions. For more information on CJCP®, visit http://www.jcrinc.com/cjcp-certification/. You may also e-mail questions directly to cjcp@jcrinc.com.
2 Page
STANDARDS
The Answers
Here are the answers to the questions on page 2. How did you do?
B, at least 50%. For organizations that are required to conduct quarterly fire drills (health care and ambulatory care occupancies, for example), at least half of these drills must be
unannounced. This allows an organization to get a true sense of its spontaneous response capabilities. Note that you can precede an unannounced fire drill with an overhead page stating that the fire alarm is a drill so that individuals in sensitive areas, such as the intensive care unit or the operating room, can continue their work without disruption.
STANDARDS REFERENCE: EC.02.03.03, Element of
Performance (EPs) 3 and 4
A, 36 inches wide and cannot project more than 6 inches into the corridor. When corridors are 6 feet wide or more, The Joint Commission permits certain objects—hand rub dispensers and retractable computer desks, for example—to project into the corridor. However, they should be no more than 36 inches wide and cannot project more than 6 inches.
STANDARDS REFERENCE: LS.02.01.20, EP 12
A, 30 seconds. An organization should test its battery-powered egress lights at 30-day intervals for at least 30 seconds and annually for a minimum of 90 minutes. An organization may choose to replace batteries every year instead of conducting the 90-minute test. If you select this option, make sure to test 10% of the replacement batteries for the 90-minute duration to ensure
that the batteries are not faulty. Don’t forget to document all battery test completion dates.
STANDARDS REFERENCE: EC.02.05.07, EPs 1 and 2
C, 2 hours. Walls containing horizontal exits have to be fire rated for 2 or more hours to appropriately ensure life safety. In addition, these walls must extend from the lowest floor slab to the floor or roof slab above, and they must extend continuously from exterior wall to exterior wall. (For full text and any exceptions, refer to NFPA 101-2000: 7.2.4.3.1 and 8.2.2.2)
STANDARDS REFERENCE: LS.02.01.20, EP 3
C, radioactive. An organization should have a plan for providing radioactive, biological, and chemical isolation and decontamination. Although your organization may not have all these capabilities onsite, you do need to have a way of dealing with patients who present to your organization needing these services. This may involve triaging patients and sending them to another facility, or it may require addressing the situation in- house. If an organization plans to send out patients for isolation and decontamination, it must know what facility it will send patients to and how patients will get there. When planning for
decontamination, you should also coordinate with your community and determine what resources the fire department and/or emergency managers can provide.
STANDARDS REFERENCE: EM.02.02.05, EP 5 EC
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