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January February 2018 Cover Image
January/February 2018 Health Care Occupancies

This issue of NFPA Journal looks at the complexities of wildfire policy. Why, even as our scientific knowledge of home ignition increases, are wildfires more destructive than ever? Politics, economics, psychology, and many other factors make challenging the status quo difficult. PLUS: A slew of health care focused stories including a look at dangerous gases used in dental offices; designing healthier fire houses; ride sharing apps versus ambulances, evidence-based hospital design, and much more.

FEATURES

Build. Burn. Repeat?

2017 was among the most destructive wildfire seasons in U.S. history. Can we address the problem, or will politics, economics, and false assumptions prove too much to overcome?

Ambulance or Uber?

Can ride-sharing services play a role in lowering community health care costs by reducing unneeded hospital transports? The numbers suggest yes, but concerns abound.

The Evidence for Evidence-Based Design

A Massachusetts hospital used the evidence-based design process to realize efficiencies, save money, and improve patient outcomes. How did they do it?

Comfortably Numb

As sedation and anesthesia become more commonplace in dental practices nationwide, a new chapter on dental gas and vacuum systems in NFPA 99 aims to keep patients safe.

In Compliance

NFPA 72

Understanding private-mode notification for health care facilities.

NFPA 101

What NFPA 101 and NFPA 101A say about fire sprinkler requirements for nursing homes.

NFPA 70

How the NEC® addresses the fire hazards of Power Over Ethernet equipment.

NFPA 4

Several major codes now reference NFPA 4. What you need to know.

Columns

Outreach

My Fire: It’s easy to think that fire could never happen to you, and then it does.

Safety Policy

It’s time to stop playing politics with safety regulations and trust the code adoption process.

International

Peru’s all-volunteer fire service turns to NFPA to help it navigate an array of big challenges.

Research

The Modern Scourge: Suburban wildfires may be the biggest fire protection challenge of our time.

First Responder

Tech Trap: As we rely more on technology, are responders losing something?

Wildfire

We need to challenge some of wildfire’s orthodoxies if we have any hope of addressing the problem.

P.O.V.

First Word

NFPA President Jim Pauley reflects on 2017 and looks at the year ahead.

Perspectives

Firefighters have always lived in stations polluted by cancer-causing chemicals. One architect thinks there is a better way.

News + Analysis

Dispatches

Ghost Ship, One Year Later: What has changed since the tragedy?

Firewatch

Fire incidents from across the country.

Looking Back

The Laurier Palace Theatre Fire of 1927 in Montreal, Quebec.