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VOLUME 17, NUMBER 12
OCTOBER 2, 1970
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA
October 4-10
Duke Observes Fire Prevention Week
TRAINED IN FIRE SAFETY—Medical Center administrators and nursing
personnel took part in the first 12-hour fire safety class in August. From left to right,
first row, are Mrs. Edna Watkins, nursing supervisor for the Surgical Specialty Unit;
Mrs. Sara Jeffreys, nursing supervisor on the General Surgical Unit; Lifton Lewis, PCA
III in the Medical Out-patient Clinic; Mrs. Joan Dunston, unit services supervisor on
the Psychiatric Unit; and Marshall Fowler, Medical Center fire marshal. Second row:
James Daniel, unit administrator on pediatrics; S. Douglas Smith, assistant hospital
director who presented certificates to those who completed the class; Mrs. Jane
Howell, nursing supervisor for the Emergency Department; James Wall, unit adminis
trator on psychiatry; Mrs. Mary McColm, director of nursing service for the Ambula
tory Division; and Paul Eckel, second-year hospital hospital administration student.
Other members of the class were not present when the picture was taken, (photo by
David Hooks)
Twelve-Hour Class in Fire Safety
Offered to Nursing^ Administration
To make Medical Center employes
more aware of how to prevent fires and
what to do about them if they do break
out. Fire Marshal Marshall Fowler has
established a 12-hour hospital fire safety
course.
The class is presented in one-and-
a-half-hour sessions over an eight-day
period. Nursing personnel and
administrators learn the chemistry of fire,
the types of fires and how to extinguish
each type, and fire prevention and safety
measures. In addition, all participants
learn the proper methods of evacuating
patients in case of fire.
Mr. Fowler is a certified instructor in
fire service training with the state
Department of Community Colleges.
Jerry Johnson, a Durham fireman who
also works in inhalation therapy at Duke,
helps teach evacuation procedures. The
entire program is organized through Dur
ham Technical Institute.
The first fire safety class represented a
large number of hospital departments, in
cluding six nursing supervisors, several
unit administrators, a hospital admin
istration student and other nursing em
ployes.
More classes are planned in the future
and Mr. Fowler says he hopes to be able
to teach one a month.
Duke Hospital has never had a major
fire in a patient care area.
And it's up to 3II of us to make sure
we keep that record perfect.
This special issue of Intercom, pub
lished for National Fire Prevention Week
October 4-10, is designed to inform em
ployes of the fire safety programs in pro
gress af the Medical Center and to make
sure that everyone knows what to do in
case of fire.
The greatest danger in a fire is panic.
Through fire prevention techniques the
Medical Center is reducing the potential
for fires, but if a fire does get started,
then people who are aware of what to do
and go about it systematically can do
much to eliminate this panic.
In this issue are included an article
about the fire safety training courses held
each month for nursing and adminis
trative personnel and one on the newly
organized Medical Center Fire Brigade.
In addition, there are stories about
the newly instituted fire violation notice
and what you should do if you spot a
fire.
Every single employe must be vitally
concerned with the importance of fire
prevention in a hospital. It is up to each
of us to make sure that trash and other
flammable materials are not allowed to
accumulate anywhere.
We must be extremely careful with
cigarettes and matches to see that they
are not carelessly flipped into waste bas
kets either by employes or by patients or
visitors. Also, those of us who work with
flammable liquids in laboratories must be
doubly sure to handle and store them
properly.
As part of the Medical Center's goal to
prevent all fires, Marshall Fowler, an
expert in fire safety programs, was hired
as Duke's first fire marshal late last year.
(continued on page four)