BTS welcomes the new guidelines for fire safety and emergency evacuations of ICUs and operating theatres

The Association of Anaesthetists and the Intensive Care Society have today published new guidelines for fire safety and emergency evacuations of hospital settings such as operating theatres and Intensive Care Units (ICUs), but also respiratory high care areas and other areas of the hospital where non-invasive respiratory support is provided.

With past fires and full-scale evacuations of ICUs in mind, the document now includes a focus on fires and emergencies originating within these areas, and complements trust-wide procedures.

The guidelines cover a range of eventualities, including fire, floods, power cuts, oxygen supply failures, noxious gases, structural collapse or other critical incidents, and were developed by a multidisciplinary team of clinicians, healthcare fire officers, industry, the Fire and Rescue Services, NHS Improvement and the Health and Safety Executive.

Professor Jon Bennett, chair of the British Thoracic Society (BTS), said:
These are vital and pragmatic guidelines that will ensure the UK has the safest possible operating theatres and Intensive Care Units, and they are going to be instrumental in the safe design and operation of Respiratory Support Units (RSUs). These are new specialised units where patients are given enhanced respiratory support by respiratory staff, outside Intensive Care.

Patients on Respiratory Support Units depend on oxygen support and various forms of non-invasive ventilation to help them breathe, are less mobile and more complex to evacuate, and these guidelines will help to ensure they, and the staff caring for them, are safe.