Long-Term Care Survey Alert

Those alcohol hand gels are a great infection control tool, but they might also prove to be a fire hazard if you keep them in hallways used as an exit route in case of a blaze.That's the warning sounded by Raymond Forsell, clinical engineer with the University of Vermont technical services program, based on fire studies he's conducted on some of the alcohol-based hand hygiene products. Forsell found that the products tested produced a lot of black smoke and a fair amount of fire.

"So placing the products in egress corridors could increase the fuel load in case of a fire," he cautions. In Forsell's view, it'd be OK to place the dispensers containing the alcohol gel in a patient's room or a patient suite where staff can at least close the door and confine the fire to the room.

Forsell notes that fire codes require facilities to maintain a minimal fuel load in the corridors in or der to provide a safe exit. "Facilities should, however, check with their local or state fire marshal's office for their interpretation of the fire codes," he tells Eli.

In addition, the American Society for Health Care Engineering is conducting more definitive studies of the alcohol hand rubs so nursing homes can look at the outcomes of those studies, Forsell suggests.