By Brad Keyes / Special to Healthcare Facilities Today

Q: There is a lot of confusion on how many fire drills we have to complete. We have 3 towers where there is healthcare, all connected, but different building names. Do we only need to complete 1 fire drill per shift per quarter in EACH building or can we combine the 3 towers into one healthcare? They are breaking out each tower and conducting the required amount in each building, which seems overkill.

A: The intent of the Life Safety Code is to conduct fire drills once per shift per quarter in all healthcare occupancies per building. If you have more than one building on campus that contains healthcare occupancies, then you would have to conduct separate fire drills for each shift and each quarter in each building.

However, if the buildings that contain healthcare occupancies are contiguous (connected together) and there is no fire rated barrier serving as a separation barrier between the buildings, then you could do one fire drill per shift per quarter that would cover all the buildings.

A separation barrier would be a fire-rated barrier that is vertically aligned (meaning the barrier does not extend horizontally) from the lowest floor to the roof. The fire rating of the barrier could differ depending on the applicable codes and standards, but the NFPA 101 Life Safety Code would require at a minimum a 2-hour fire rating.

Brad Keyes, CHSP, is the owner of KEYES Life Safety Compliance, and his expertise is in the management of the Life Safety Program, including the Environment of Care and Emergency Management programs.