Fire and Safety

Resident safety is of paramount importance at
St. Joseph’s Health Centre. Staff are trained to respond quickly and appropriately in the case of a fire and, if necessary, to evacuate all occupants of the building.

We believe that knowing and understanding our fire plans will provide you with a sense of confidence and security in your new home.

New Design Features

Higher construction standards mean that new health care facilities are designed to aid staff in the quick identification and confinement of fires. This should also result in a reduced need to evacuate occupants in the case of a fire emergency.

Some of the fire safety features in our new building are outlined below:

• Fire & Smoke Barriers:
The fire doors that separate each area or “zone” in the building will prevent fire from spreading beyond that point for approximately TWO HOURS. Smoke doors will delay the spread of smoke for about 30 minutes (an important feature in terms of improved visibility and ventilation).

Fire and smoke doors will close automatically when the fire alarm is triggered.

• Automatic Sprinkler System:
There are over 2000 sprinkler heads in our facility – at least one in every room. Sprinklers are activated by heat and can prevent or delay the spread of fire beyond the immediate area of the fire.

• Emergency Power and Lighting:
In the event of a power failure, an emergency system will ensure lighting in certain areas (to improve visibility) as well as an electrical power source for essential medical equipment.

• Automatic Fire Announcement System:
Whenever a sprinkler, smoke detector or manual “pull station” is activated, the fire alarm will automatically begin to sound (continuous rings). Shortly thereafter, a computer-generated announcement is made indicating the location of the fire.

• Fire Fighter Elevator:
As soon as the fire alarm is triggered, all four elevators in the building will automatically return to Level Two, the doors will open to let anyone inside to get off, and then the elevators will be “locked down” so that no one can use them.

However, one of our elevators is designated as a “Fire Fighter Elevator”. If necessary, fire fighters can use a special device to re-activate this elevator (even when other electrical devices are not operational) in order to evacuate residents to another level.

• If there is smoke in a resident’s room, the call bell system will be triggered and the light over the door will alternately flash red and amber to identify the exact location of the fire.