General News
Safety hazards at Mental Health
By Bernice Santiago, Pacific Daily News
The Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse still needs to address fire safety issues at the Guam Mental Health Facility, though DMHSA documents show that several improvements have been made since an August 2008 site inspection, according to a federal government expert report filed yesterday in the District Court of Guam.
During the site inspection last year for the Department of Justice, fire protection consultant Bill Wamsley noted that neither the sprinkler system nor the fire alarm system worked at the facility.
Wamsley also noted several other conditions that created "extremely dangerous conditions for the occupants of the Mental Health Facility."
Those occupants include patients who are not capable of self-preservation and may not be able to evacuate the building on their own, Wamsley said.
In the report issued yesterday, Wamsley said he reviewed documents from DMHSA, stating that a fire alarm system has been installed and tested, and that the sprinkler system had also been repaired.
Three conditions remain that aren't addressed in DMHSA documents, which need to be corrected, Wamsley said.
Wamsley identified the exit stairwell at the center of the building as a fire hazard during his 2008 inspection.
The stairwell is not enclosed with a fire-rated door on each floor, Wamsley said. In the event of a fire, the stairwell without doors will act as a natural chimney. Heat, smoke, toxic fumes, and other products of combustion would enter the stairwell and then migrate freely through all levels of the building.
The stairwell also is marked with exit signs, which means that in the event of a fire, the occupants will move toward the stairwell, Wamsley said.
This issue has not been addressed, Wamsley said, and continues to be a serious hazard.
In 2008, Wamsley identified another problem with the exterior doors of the building. Those doors are locked, preventing patients from wandering out into the street, Wamsley said, but at the time, none of the staff members had a key to open the exterior doors.
Without keys to those doors, both staff and occupants would need to use the interior stairwell -- the fire hazard noted earlier -- to reach the exit on an upper floor on the other side of the building, Wamsley said.
In the report filed yesterday, Wamsley quoted Mental Health Department Director David Shimizu's declaration on Aug. 14, stating that "DMHSA further informs the court that all inpatient units at the current faciiltiy have exit doors accessing the exterior area from the units with one-key operation."
Wamsley then said the statement does not identify that all staff have access to the key or keys that open those doors.
Documentation should show that keys to the exterior doors are available to all staff at all times, Wamsley said.
The third condition that needs to be addressed, Wamsley said yesterday, is that the staff should be able to identify keys for those emergency doors by touch. "In any facility where exit doors are locked, the ability to identify the keys by touch is critical to life safety," Wamsley said.
"These conditions must be addressed before a reasonable degree of fire and life safety can be achieved for patients and staff in this facility," Wamsley said.
Gov. Felix Camacho, the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse and the Department of Integrated Services for Individuals with Disabilities have been under a permanent injunction since 2004 to improve services and facilities for people with mental and developmental disabilities. The court order follows a 2001 lawsuit filed against the government of Guam for failure to provide adequate mental health services.
Federal court monitors have asked the court to remove the local government's authority over those services and appoint a federal receiver instead.
The request awaits the court's decision.
Source: http://www.guampdn.com/article/20091031/NEWS01/910310317/1002
Additional Information
Country: Guam
Website: http://www.guampdn.com/article/20091031/NEWS01/910310317/1002
Email: N/A
Phone: N/A
Contact Person: N/A
Source: Mail from: D_and_d_sub@mail.jetro.go.jp
When: 03/11/2009
