NFPA responds to the coronavirus

HEALTH CARE

As the pandemic stresses the health care system, critical fire and life safety needs must be balanced with patient care in hospitals as well as new temporary makeshift facilities.

NFPA 101®, Life Safety Code®, is the most widely used source for strategies to protect people based on building construction, protection, and occupancy features that minimize the effects of fire and related hazards. Unique in the field, it is the only document that covers life safety in both new and existing structures.

NFPA 99 , Health Care Facilities Code, is an indispensable resource for health care decision-makers, offering essential safety information and requirements for emergency planning, isolation spaces, infection control, IT, data infrastructure, and many other relevant topics.

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Fact sheet

It is becoming clear that the current capacity of the nation’s hospitals will not be enough to care for the number of critically ill patients expected in many areas. This means that existing health care locations need to be modified to provide more beds, additional spaces need to be created from repurposed existing buildings, or temporary structures need to be constructed.

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Fire and Life Safety Considerations for Very Low Temperature Vaccine Storage

The arrival of the COVID-19 vaccine means that many hospitals, long term care facilities, state authorities, and distributors are currently evaluating different variables associated with managing vaccine logistics in an efficient and safe way.

Considerations for Temporary Compliance Options in Health Care Environments During COVID-19

This information includes some compliance options for consideration based on feedback from authorities having jurisdiction (AHJs), officials at the state and local level, health care industry professionals, and other stakeholders.

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Temporary Compliance Options for Code Modifications, Alternate Care Sites, and Facilities Related to Health Care

This white paper provides greater context to associated considerations and measures around construction, prevention, detection and notification, egress, and automatic sprinkler systems.

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Podcasts

The Impending Health Care Surge

As the health care system in the United States braces for a surge in patients sickened by COVID-19, the NFPA Journal® speaks with experts on how this issue will be addressed, from the creation of mobile field hospitals to putting inspections on hold.

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Crisis Standards of Care

This podcast looks at crisis standards of care (CSC). The coronavirus pandemic has forced first response agencies and health care workers across the world to alter their normal standards and protocols for operation in order to handle the huge surge in sick patients. We hear from experts on how CSC are developed, what the legal implications and challenges to employing them are, and some examples of how CSC are being used by EMS professionals, fire departments, and hospitals right now.