Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Mandates Fire Sprinkler Coverage
All Long-Term Care Facilities Serving CMS Beneficiaries Must Have Fire Sprinkler Systems in Place by 2013
The following is from the Blazemaster website:
Today, only about one in five nursing homes have full fire sprinkler
coverage, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services (CMS). To address this gap in fire safety, CMS created a
regulation that mandates comprehensive fire sprinkler coverage for
all long term care facilities serving Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries
by 2013. It is estimated that the new regulation affects 3,500 existing
facilities.
BlazeMaster fire sprinkler systems are
ideal for this type of retrofit construction.
The CPVC system is cost-effective and
features a fast, easy, clean installation
– minimizing disruption to occupants. In
fact, retrofitting with BlazeMaster pipe
and fittings can help building owners
save up to 40 percent in total installed
costs when compared to metallic systems.
According to the CMS website (www.cms.hhs.gov), approximately
three million elderly and disabled Americans reside in the nation’s
16,000 nursing homes. Although fatal fires in nursing homes are
rare, in a July 2004 report, the Government Accountability Office
estimated that automatic sprinkler systems can decrease the
chance of fire-related deaths by 82 percent.
Previous CMS regulations required sprinkler systems in all newly
constructed and rehabilitated facilities. However, the federal
government did not require existing nursing homes to have such
systems and some older facilities were exempt
from this requirement. This new CMS mandate
holds all 16,000 nursing homes in the country to
the same standard.
All new fire sprinkler systems retrofitted as
a result of this rule will be required to meet
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)
fire safety guidelines. The NFPA specifies that
all resident rooms; kitchen, dining and activity
areas; corridors; attics; canopies; overhangs;
offices; waiting areas; closets; storage areas for trash and linen;
and maintenance areas have full fire sprinkler coverage.
For more information, please visit www.blazemaster.com/nursinghome.
