128-A Life Safety Codes I: Current State of Nursing Home Fire and Life Safety
Posted: Nov. 01, 2007
Handout from session 128-A Oct. 21, 2007 3:15 pm- 5:15 pm

132-B Life Safety Codes II: 2000 Life Safety Code-What you Need to Know
Posted: Nov. 01, 2007
Handout from session 132-B Oct. 22 10:15 am -12:15 pm

CMS Memo: Multiple Providers – Hospitals, Ambulatory Surgical centers, Nursing Homes, Religious Non–Medical Health Care Institutions, PACE Facilities, Critical Access Hospitals, ICFs/MR – Permitted Gaps in Corridor Doors and Doors in Smoke Barriers (9/28/07)
Posted: Oct. 05, 2007
This Letter clarifies current misinterpretations and provides guidance for requirements under the 2000 Life Safety Code (LSC) for minimum gaps allowed for corridor doors.

CMS Memo: Life Safety Code -- Canopy and Overhead Sprinkler Requirements and the Use of Fire Safety Evaluation System
Posted: July 23, 2007
This letter clarifies that the Fire Safety Evaluation System (FSES) can be used by nursing facilities under survey to demonstrate equivalency to the Life Safety Code (LSC) for evaluating "the level of safety provided for a health care occupancy where a canopy or overhang is required to be sprinklered."

CMS Memo – Multiple Providers – Permitted Gaps in Corridor Doors and Doors in Smoke Barriers
Posted: April 20, 2007
This memo clarifies requirements for door gaps in the 2000 edition of the Life Safety Code (LSC), National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 101, including those for Hospitals, Ambulatory Surgical Centers, Nursing Homes, religious Non–Medical HealthCare Institutions, Programs of All–Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) Facilities, Critical Access Hospitals and Intermediate Care Facilities for the Mentally Retarded.

CMS Memo: Life Safety Code – Exit Discharge Requirements and the Fire Safety Evaluation
Posted: Dec. 7, 2006
This Survey and Certificatio Letter clarifies CMS policy regarding the use of the Fire Safety Evaluation System (FSES) for nursing facilities to determine compliance with the Life Safety Code (LSC) for exit discharge paths that are not paved.

CMS Memo: Provisions of the Final Rule Regarding Adoption of New Fire Safety Requirements for ABHRs and Installation of Battery Powered Smoke Alarms
Posted: Nov. 1, 2006
This Letter highlights changes in the 9/22/06 Final Rule, "Medicare & Medicaid Programs: Fire Safety Requirements for Certain Health Care Facilities" and clarifies terminology and/or definitions regarding alcohol based hand rubs (ABHRs) and requirements for installation of battery powered smoke alarms.

CMS Proposed Rule: Medicare and Medicaid Programs: Fire Safety Requirements, for Long Term Care Facilities, Automatic Sprinkler Systems
Posted: Oct. 27, 2006
This Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Proposed Rule would require all long term care facilities to be fully equipped with approved, supervised automatic sprinkler systems.

CMS Memo: Life Safety Code; Clarification of the Amount of Air Movement Allowed Between Corridors and Resident Rooms and Plenum Waiver Requirements
Posted: May 26, 2006
This Letter clarifies CMS' policy on Life Safety Code requirements regarding the use of corridors in nursing facilities as plenums and identifies the criteria for when a waiver may be granted. Examples of when a corridor is used as a plenum are included

CMS Memo: Upcoming Compliance Date for Installation of Emergency Lighting; Replacement of Existing Roller Latches (3/10/06)
Notifies State Agencies (SAs) and Regional Offices (ROs) of the survey protocol and date for nursing facilities to comply with Life Safety Code requirements concerning emergency lighting and the replacement of roller latches in corridor doors.

CMS Memo: Clarification of Life Safety Code Survey Issues in Nursing Homes (7/14/05)
Includes a Q and A on CMS Life Safety Code survey policy regarding sprinklering of wardrobes/closets; exit discharge surfacing requirements; and canopy sprinklering requirements.

CMS Memo: Multiple Providers – Adoption of a New Fire Safety Amendment for the Use of Alcohol Based Hand Rubs (ABHRs) (6/9/05)
This memo notifies State Agencies and Regional Offices of the March 25, 2005, publication of the Interim Final Rule allowing the use of ABHRs in exit access corridors of health care facilities.

CMS Memo: Corridor Width & Corridor Mounted Computer Touch Screens in Health Care Facilities - Clarification
Posted: August 12, 2004
This memo provides clarification on installation of corridor mounted computer touch screens in healthcare facilities.

CMS Memo: Life Safety Code (LSC) and State Performance Standards (5/13/04)
This memo reiterates existing policy related to the Life Safety Code and combines them into one document. Includes survey coordination and data entry; use of waivers; use of the FSES; LSC issues that are addressed in the State Performance Standards, and Federal Monitoring Surveys.

CMS Memo: Procedures in the Event of a Fire in a Medicare–or Medicaid–Certified Health Care Facility (3/11/04)
This memo advises of the actions to be taken by the State Agency (SA), CMS Regional Office (RO), and Central Office (CO) in the event of a fire in a participating facility that results in serious injury or death.

CMS Memo: Definition of Terms Used in the Life Safety Code (LSC) of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) (12/11/03)
The purpose of this memo is to clarify five commonly used terms in the LSC of the NFPA: "alteration, modification, renovation" , and "major" and "minor" with respect to renovation.

CMS Memo: Adoption of New Fire Safety Requirements for Certain Health Care Facilities (5/8/03)
This memo notifies the State Agencies and Regional Offices of the publication and adoption of the Final Rule for the 2000 edition of the Life Safety Code for long-term care facilities, inpatient hospice services, ICFs/MR, hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, PACE, critical access hospitals, and religious nonmedical health care institutions.

CMS Final Rule: Medicare and Medicaid Programs: Fire Safety Requirements for Certain Health Care Facilities
This Final Rule, published in the Federal Register January 10, 2003, adopts the 2000 edition of the Life Safety Code for long-term care facilities, inpatient hospice services, ICFs/MR, hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, PACE, critical access hospitals, and religious nonmedical health care institutions.