Nursing home evacuation plans

Abstract

Objectives: I examined evacuation plans from 2134 nursing homes and analyzed national data to determine the types of nursing homes cited for deficiencies in their evacuation plans.

Methods: Evacuation plans were assessed according to criteria developed by an expert panel funded by the Office of the Inspector General. Deficiency citations came from the Online Survey, Certification, and Recording database, collected from 1997 to 2005. Four specific citations, for written emergency plans, staff training, written evacuation plans, and fire drills, were examined with multivariate logistic regression.

Results: Most plans had water supply provisions (96%). Only 31% specified an evacuation route. The rate of citations was relatively stable throughout the study period: each year approximately 0.6% of facilities were found to be deficient in written emergency plans, 2.1% in staff training, 1.2% in written evacuation plans, and 7.9% in fire drills.

Conclusions: Some nursing homes need more specific evacuation plans. Water supply was the most and evacuation routes were the least well-addressed areas.

FIGURE 1—

Percentage of nursing homes cited for deficiencies in their written emergency plans (F-517), staff training (F-518), written evacuation plans (K-48), and fire drills (K-50).