How Long Will It Take You?

There is no doubt that the activation of a fire sprinkler due to a fire has the potential of saving many lives and reducing property damage. In health care we practice defend-in-place, so it is extremely important that fire suppression take care of the fire at once. Although the sprinkler is only intended to contain the fire while occupants move out of immediate danger, the extremely good success rate of the sprinklers actually extinguishing the fire brings up the next issue that needs to be contained.... The water.  

What do you do with what could be thousands of gallons of water flowing across your floors, through the hallways, under walls and down to through the ceilings below? Unfortunately, there isn't much you can do once the water is present, it's a lot of mitigating the potential effects the water will have.  

Perhaps the priority is to mitigate the source of the water by stopping the flow as soon as possible. In a health care facility, the presence of water could just as major as a problem as a fire. What's more, nearly a third of sprinkler activations occur with no fire present. So perhaps we should be practicing these methods just as we do for fire drills?  

In this recent video posted on ASHE's YouTube channel, watch as facilities personnel race to shut the water flow off at the sprinkler head.  While you are there, be sure to subscribe to the ASHE Channel and click the bell to make sure you are notified when the next video is published.

While a large amount of water will still be discharged, perhaps it can be easily managed. What methods do you use at your facility to reduce the potential impacts that an unintentional discharge may create? Respond in the comments below.