Company News and Updates

2010

Emergency Management Seminars (5 Regional Sessions) - Massachusetts: The Mass Senior Care Association, in coordination with the Massachusetts Long Term Care Mutual Aid Plan (MassMAP) and with support from MassAging and MassALFA, provided a series of informational meetings that were presented by Russell Phillips & Associates:

1. Review of July 2009 MassMAP exercises for evacuation of long term care facilities - addressing key items for regional and state-wide improvement
   
2. Full Building Evacuation - Training of internal plans to evacuate a long term care facility; review a 2009 nursing home evacuation; outline how to coordinate Stop Over Points; incorporate resident tracking components into the plan
   
3. Overview of other state-wide Emergency Preparedness Planning Partnerships

AORN Annual Congress: Scott Aronson, a Principal in Russell Phillips & Associates, will be presenting on surgical fires at the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) in Denver, CO.  With more than 10 surgical fires per week, this special session will bring to light proven techniques for prevention and management of surgical fires.   Participants will also have the opportunity to go through hands-on fire suppression and evacuation exercises that will take place throughout the day at the convention center.  AORN promotes quality patient care by providing its members with education, standards, services, and representation. AORN is composed of 40,000 perioperative registered nurses in approximately 6,700 hospitals and 3,500 ambulatory surgery centers in all 50 states and around the world.

Mississippi Hospital Association - Health, Education & Research Foundation: David Hood, a Principal and President of Russell Phillips & Associates, and Richard Fasano, Western Region Manager, presented on full building evacuation and regional Mutual Aid Planning to hospitals throughout the State of Mississippi in this one (1) day workshop.  Participants received a Full Building Evacuation Best Practices Guide on CD to support their internal efforts to improve their ability to plan and execute the evacuation of a hospital or other care facility.

National Fire Protection Association Conference & Expo, Las Vegas, NV: On June 7 -10, 2010 Nick Gabriele, Manager of the New England Region Office for Russell Phillips & Associates, will co-present with Mr. Joseph Laveneziana, Director of Safety & Security at St. Vincent’s Medical Center, on Developing a Comprehensive Health Care Facility Full Building Evacuation Plan. The seminar will detail the important components of a Healthcare Facility Full Building Evacuation Plan and the important aspects of implementing and exercising the plan along with community partners and other healthcare facilities. These lessons learned are based on a successful partnership in implementing the plans at St. Vincent’s Medical Center.

2009

Donations to Children’s Hospitals: At the Annual Company Meeting in December, it was announced by the firm that donations would be made to support families with children receiving critical or long-term care.  The donations were made to organizations based on the same location where Russell Phillips & Associates has staff.  The groups included:

• Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, Hartford, CT: Family Fund
• Kosair Children’s Hospital, Louisville, KY: Ronald McDonald House
• Golisano Children’s Hospital, Rochester, NY: Ronald McDonald House
• UC Davis Children’s Hospital and Shriners Hospital of Sacramento, CA: Kiwanis Family House

Capitol Region Council of Governments (CRCOG): Russell Phillips & Associates has been contracted by CRCOG to customize the Connecticut Region III Long Term Care Mutual Aid Plan (LTC-MAP) for Evacuation and Supply Resources, which establishes a course of action and an agreed commitment among participating nursing homes to assist each other as needed in the time of a disaster.  Assistance may come in the form of:

• Providing pre-designated evacuation locations for residents during a disaster; and/or
• Providing or sharing supplies, equipment, transportation, staff or pharmaceuticals to a facility when a disaster overwhelms their own community or exceeds the capability of internal emergency preparedness plans.

This project is being managed by the Capitol Region Council of Governments (CRCOG), a regional planning organization located in Hartford which serves the 41 communities located in the Connecticut Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (DEMHS) Region III for homeland security and public safety planning needs.  The project will be funded through federal Urban Area Security Initiative dollars and will be designed based upon the 78 nursing homes in Region III.  A Task Force and Special Expertise Committees are being formed to support the design of this plan and will include the nursing homes, CRCOG, Department of Public Health, CANPFA, CAHCF, the Capitol Region Metropolitan Medical Response System (MMRS) and emergency responders from the region (Fire, EMS, Police, and Emergency Managers).  Please visit www.mutualaidplan.org.

• This project includes the new version of the RPA web-based system www.mutualaidplan.org (formerly www.massmap.org) to manage multiple sites for levels of care, transportation assets, supplies/equipment, key contacts, evacuation locations (preplanned) and many other core elements for healthcare mutual aid.

Adventist Health System signs 5-year Agreement: Adventist Health System has contracted with Russell Phillips & Associates for a 5-year agreement to provide fire safety training and support to 30 hospitals and 16 nursing homes in 8 states.  This is an extension of the longest corporate partnership in the history of Russell Phillips & Associates that dates back to 1977.

Society of Health Care Safety Specialists – Lincoln, NE: Robert Day, Senior Consultant for Russell Phillips & Associates, presented a 2 day seminar in October 2009 as part of a 3-part certification program for the Society of Health Care Safety Specialists.  This program included participants from Skilled Nursing, Assisted Living and Adult Homes.  The program included:

• The components of an Emergency Operation Plan and a review of case studies on recent disasters along with key leadership and staff actions to manage the incident.
• As an exercise, participants split up into 3-4 groups and developed a Full Building Evacuation Plan for a participants building.
• Life Safety Code^® Compliance: Keys to help healthcare facilities to stay in compliance with the Life Safety Code^® 101 and the referenced Standards (i.e. NFPA 13, NFPA 25, NFPA 99, etc.)
• Review of past health care fires and the lessons learned.

Neonatal and Pediatric Evacuation Plan – Washington: In 2009, Public Health-Seattle & King County contracted Russell Phillips & Associates and embarked on a project to plan for the evacuation of the neonatal and pediatric patient hospital population due to an isolated, regional or catastrophic disaster.  The planning included identification of the precise levels of care provided across multiple states and British Columbia, methods of transport for High Acuity Patients (ECMO, Oscillator, Vent) from a Level III NICU across to special Pediatric Intensive Care Patients, Med/Surg and Behavioral Health.  Planning then evolved to make critical decisions on patient distribution strategies using a Health & Medical Area Command and escalated to the catastrophic planning elements of having a failure of multiple hospitals in the area.  This focused on turning certain acute care hospitals with current pediatric capabilities into Pediatric Disaster Surge Hospitals.  A review of equipment, staffing, transportation resources, suppliers/vendors and other special support entities was conducted with information being managed through the Healthcare Coalition and Public Health.

The Community Partners were brought together including air, EMS and regional transit to support planning efforts and provide a breaking point for regional transportation assets.  Additionally, the hospitals all underwent a surge capacity review to take the institutions to breaking points assuming that there was no ability to leave the region due to the scope of the disaster.  The surge capacity element assumed 100% occupancy and limiting or eliminating the use of Emergency Departments and PACU due to the need to keep those areas at full capacity in an extended emergency.

New England Fire Marshals Association Annual Educational Conference: Nick Gabriele, Manager of the New England Region Office for Russell Phillips & Associates, presented on “Healthcare Occupancies – A code enforcement and evacuation challenge”. Participants were Authorities Having Jurisdiction from across the New England states, and the presentation focused on the most common deficiencies identified in healthcare occupancies and commonly misunderstood code issues. It also introduced these “local AHJs” to the Joint Commission and CMS accreditation process and reviewed essential and effective Fire Procedures and Evacuation Plans for healthcare occupancies.

Russell Phillips & Associates Staff Services as the 2nd Vice Chair of the NFPA Healthcare Executive Board: David Hood of Russell Phillips & Associates now serves as the 2nd Vice Chair to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Healthcare Section Executive Board.    The Healthcare Section of the NFPA exists to serve the Healthcare industry and those who support that community by providing quality/affordable education, influence and harmony in the development and application of effective codes and standards, and a forum for information exchange.

Redesign of Russell Phillips & Associates Emergency Operations Plan (EOP): Over the course of 2008 and 2009, Russell Phillips and key emergency management team members updated both the long term care and hospital EOP to reflect best practices and lessons learned from recent disasters throughout the nation.  This included core elements from the impact on healthcare facilities from hurricanes, wildfires, internal and external floods, complete loss of central services and other unique disasters.  The plans incorporate the most current National Fire Protection Association, Joint Commission, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and various state Departments of Health.

Connecticut Association of Not-for-profit Providers For the Aging (CANPFA) Annual Conference: Nick Gabriele, of Russell Phillips & Associates, presented on the “Life Safety Code^® – Identifying Multiple Solutions to Complex Code Issue” for CANPFA, a membership organization representing over 150 not-for-profit mission driven provider organizations serving more than 16,000 elderly and disabled individuals across the entire continuum of care. This seminar reviewed the unique code requirements specific to nursing homes; exceptions and interpretations to the LSC (cost saving initiatives) and provided a foundation for understanding alternative compliance options: The CMS Life Safety Code^® Waiver process, CT State Fire Code Modification process and applying the  Fire Safety Evaluation System (FSES)

40 Under 40 Award:  Scott Aronson was named to the Hartford Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 Award for 2009.  This award focused on leaders in the Greater Hartford area who are commitment to business growth, personal excellence and deep community involvement.

2008

R.A.C.E. for Safety DVD: Russell Phillips & Associates has launched the new R.A.C.E. for Safety DVD to support nursing homes in protecting the lives of residents, visitors and staff from the devastating effects of fire.  With an average of 2,900 long term care fires annually, this video will help facilities improve their fire safety capabilities.

• Quotation from Beecher Hunter, President of Life Care Centers of America: “With more than 225 skilled nursing centers throughout the country, we have used the R.A.C.E. for Safety DVD to supplement our hands-on fire training provided by Russell Phillips & Associates.  Our residents deserve a safe environment and our staff needs the training techniques and tools to maintain it.  The R.A.C.E. for Safety DVD has proven to be an integral piece of our commitment to safety.”

Click here to view the Brochure and a Video Clip

Massachusetts Long Term Care Mutual Aid Association (MassMAP): Russell Phillips & Associates has been contracted through MassMAP to create a mutual aid plan for evacuation and supply resources for the 790 long term care facilities (Nursing Home, Assisted Living and Rest Homes) in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  This project is a collaborative effort between the long term care associations (MassAging, MA Senior Care and MassALFA), the Department of Public Health, the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency and the long term care facilities across the Commonwealth.  For more information on MassMAP, please visit www.massmap.org.

• This project included the launch of the new RPA web-based system www.massmap.org to manage multiple sites for levels of care, transportation assets, supplies/equipment, key contacts, evacuation locations (preplanned) and many other core elements for healthcare mutual aid.

RPA Staff Receives CFPS Designation: Nick Gabriele recently received the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) designation of Certified Fire Protection Specialist (CFPS).  Nick serves as the Manager of Russell Phillips & Associates New England Region Office. 

The Certified Fire Protection Specialist Board (CFPS) was formed in 1971 for the purpose of documenting competency and offering professional recognition for individuals involved in fire protection, fire safety, and fire prevention. In 1998, CFPS and NFPA partnered to jointly offer this highly regarded certification program.  The CFPS Board credential has been awarded to more than 1,000 professionals and is internationally recognized as a mark of achievement within the fire protection field. This group of professionals includes risk managers, loss control specialists, fire officers, fire marshals, fire inspectors, safety managers, fire protection consultants, designers, code enforcers, loss prevention professionals, building code officials, commercial real estate managers and others who have responsibilities dealing with the application of fire safety, fire protection, prevention, and suppression technologies.  For more information visit: http://www.nfpa.org/categoryList.asp?categoryID=395&URL=Training/Certification%20programs/CFPS

2007

Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC), Indianapolis, IN: Paul McManus and David Hood presented at the FDIC conference in Indianapolis on “Healthcare Firefighting Strategies and Tactics” in relation to incidents in Hospitals, Nursing and Adult Homes.

Information presented included the levels of care at each type of facility, fire department crucial actions when responding to an actual fire, fire department preplanning and what they should look for in reviewing facility-specific fire procedures.

Public Health of Seattle and King County Presentation, Seattle, WA: David Hood and Scott Aronson presented three 1-day Full Building Evacuation Workshops for the 22 hospitals in Region 6 of Washington.

Russell Phillips & Associates Staff Elected to the NFPA Healthcare Executive Board: On June 5, 2007, David Hood of Russell Phillips & Associates, a Rochester-based fire and emergency management firm servicing over 1,300 healthcare facilities nationwide, was elected to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Healthcare Section Executive Board at the NFPA World Safety Conference & Exposition in Boston.  David Hood, a Principal and President of the firm, was elected as both a board member and board officer. 

The Healthcare Section of the NFPA exists to serve the Healthcare industry and those who support that community by providing quality/affordable education, influence and harmony in the development and application of effective codes and standards, and a forum for information exchange.

2006

NFPA honors special achievements and committee service: Russell Phillips, a Principal and Founder at Russell Phillips & Associates, was honored by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) at they recognize individuals for outstanding service to the organization in the development of codes and standards.  Russ was one of 35 individuals to receive this special award at the World Safety Conference in June 2006.

2005

Connecticut Fire Academy Presentation: David Hood presented on Healthcare Firefighting Strategies & Tactics for the Connecticut Fire Academy at the Connecticut Valley Hospital in Middletown, CT.  This program focused on improving communication and pre-planning between healthcare facilities and the fire service, reviewing case studies of recent healthcare fires and actions taken by the facility, addressing unique patient population within hospitals and nursing homes, and incorporating practical exercises for suppression of a fire on the patient and evacuation techniques for the room, smoke compartment and floor. 

ASHE's 42nd Annual Conference & Technical Exhibition:  Richard Fasano, Western Region Manager for Russell Phillips & Associates, presented on Full Building Evacuation at the American Society for Healthcare Engineering conference in Anaheim, CA.  This program reviews a healthcare facility evacuation while providing information on methods to design, train and test your evacuation plan.  Russell Phillips & Associates has been involved in the review of facility evacuations dating back to 1982 when 400 patients were forced from their nursing home. 

AORN Annual Congress, April 4, 2005: Scott Aronson, a Principal in Russell Phillips & Associates, presented on surgical fires at the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) in New Orleans, LA.  This topic has been getting widespread publicity with national reports from ECRI and The Joint Commission outlining the risks and the fact that there are 2 surgical fires per week on average (2008 data now shows greater than 10 surgical fires per week.)  The program covered practical steps for preventing surgical fires, suppressing fires on patient if they do ignite, and how to evacuate from the surgical suite if the surgical team is forced to do so. 

Hurricane Katrina Review: Russell Phillips & Scott Aronson joined with the American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE) and volunteered to review the impact of Hurricane Katrina on nursing homes and hospitals in Mississippi and Louisiana.  The outcomes of this review were presented at the 2007 International Summit on Healthcare Planning, Design and Construction (PDC).

2003

Democrat and Chronicle Article from August 11, 2003 by Joy Davia, Staff Writer

Teaching safety first — and fast:
Phillips consultants show how to snuff out emergencies

Click here to view the PDF

Home | About Us | Community Involvement | Our Clients | Our Staff | Company | Links | Contact