FPA member Isolde Veld talks through the first installation of a water mist system in an Adult Intellectual Disability residential setting in Ireland
This article outlines a real-life case study of a person living independently in a St. Michael’s House (SMH) premises supported by a community team. The person presents several risk factors that increase the chance of a fire incident - hoarding behaviour, smokes inside, and has alcohol dependency compounded by mental health difficulties. Numerous measures to reduce the risk had already been attempted by the support workers, clinical team, and SMH Fire Prevention Officer but to no avail, leaving a fixed fire suppression system as the only solution to reduce the risk to an adequate level.
Independent living for those with a disability is a significant achievement for both the person and staff supporting them. Continuing to support a person to maintain independent living can be challenging especially if this is compounded by other inherent factors such as ageing, dependency, hoarding, and mental health issues. In this case study the overarching risk was the person not evacuating or not being able to evacuate in the event of a fire or other similar emergency. Another concern was the likelihood of the person to cause a fire in the first instance, for the reasons mentioned above.
A collaborative team involving management, clinical staff, and the community support team then evaluated all the options available to further mitigate the identified fire risk. Balancing the person’s individual needs and preferences with addressing the fire risk proved very challenging for all involved. The environment has an L1 fire alarm system in place, emergency lighting, 30-minute fire doors and a final exit in place to the resident’s bedroom and the front door so travel distances were very short.
Staff would visit the person for short periods daily with remote monitoring of the fire alarm out of hours. The person did not wish to move into a supported living environment and to ensure our duty of care was met to this person we had to consider an option not usually taken in intellectual disability services in Ireland – a fixed fire suppression system.
The company that provides the existing service and maintenance for St. Michael’s House firefighting equipment, MCL, was contacted by the SMH Fire Prevention Officer regarding a fire suppression system. Following discussions to outline the risks identified, MCL proposed a Plumis water mist system. The reason for recommending this system was down to the discreet nature of the equipment involved, as well as its positive installation in other similar type services in Northern Ireland. In addition, this system can suppress both an electrical and non-electrical fire risk.
The Plumis system uses a fine water mist to control or extinguish fires. It works by breaking down water into tiny droplets which increases the surface area of the water allowing it to absorb heat more efficiently and suppress the fire. They are effective, environmentally friendly, and can cause minimal damage compared to traditional sprinkler system. On activation of the fire alarm system, an inbuilt camera scans the room to determine if there is a heat source, and if it identifies one, the system activates. The system will however, only activate in the room the heat source is identified in to extinguish the fire.
When this solution was proposed at the subsequent collaborative team meeting, several misconceptions regarding fire suppression systems had to be corrected. This system creates a localised approach to combat fires, contrary to what is presented in the movies where whole floors of sprinklers go off at once!
Installation process
After discussions, the water mist option was seen as the most viable solution to reduce the risk to a reasonably practicable level given the limitations of other options. All involved agreed that this would be the best and most effective approach to address the risk. A considerable amount of work was done across the team to explain the work involved with the resident. This involved organising that they would be out of the premises for the work to be completed.
The work took 1.5 days to complete with minimal disruption, which was a reassurance for the person living there who had been anxious about the scheduled work and the related disruption to their routine. Once installed the support staff explained what the system was and how it would operate to maintain safety while living there. The system has had no direct impact on the person, and is subtle in design, which means it blends in with the home aesthetic. This case study shows how effectively a collaborative team approach can provide a solution which allowed the resident to continue to live independently, along with the addition of additional supportive measures being taken by other disciplines.
This is the first installation of its kind in an intellectual disability service in Ireland and demonstrates the work done by the St. Michael’s House solution-focused team to pioneer this technology in such a setting. It can be challenging for support staff to engage and discuss the potential fire risks with people who are supported to live independently, so the presence of such a passive system does contribute to reducing such risks. St. Michael’s House strives to maintain independence where possible but must remain mindful of risks and will take all reasonably practicable measures to keep a person safe in their home for as long as reasonably possible.
N.B. The top image is illustrative and does not show the individual or home discussed in the case study
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Isolde Veld is the Fire Prevention Officer at St. Michael’s House