The Enhancement of Fire Safety in Small-Scale Senior Citizen Welfare Institutions Based on Fire Protection Defense-in-Depth Strategy

Abstract

The number of elderly living in small-scale senior citizen welfare institutions in Taiwan has been increasing. Hence, enhancing the quality of care and safety of the residents in these institutions is a pressing issue. Our research team visited and reviewed data on 53 small-scale institutions in Tainan based on in-depth fire protection defense strategies and proposed a three-layer protection mechanism. The results showed that: (1) half (50%) of these institutions only meet the old anti-seismic system; (2) 26 (49%) institutions have multi-story buildings, thus, more staff needs to be arranged for night shifts to enable emergency responses on each floor; (3) all institutions have fire detectors; (4) 84% of the elderly living in these institutions are mobility-impaired and need to rely on the assistance of staff for evacuation; (5) most institutions (91%) employ foreign female caregivers which mostly work on night shifts; thus, routine training of emergency response should also consider the abilities of the foreign caregivers; (6) 35 (66%) institutions arrange only 50% of the day-shift manpower for the night shift; (7) 37 (70%) institutions should evaluate whether the function of their fire detectors is affected by fan air; and (8) 11 (21%) institutions use inflammable materials for furnishings to create a “cozy” atmosphere. This study also suggests that preventing smoke from spreading from a room that is on fire to other areas is an important evaluation item. Hopefully, these findings can serve as a reference for countries that are facing an increasingly aging population.