Hospitals would be allowed to use hallways for beds during emergencies

A hospital could place patient beds in hallways, corridors, or other exit routes during a justified emergency. Justified emergencies include disasters, mass-casualty events, dangerous outbreaks, and emergency departments that have run out of available treatment space. A designated emergency department leader must decide that all other suitable treatment space is exhausted and that patient safety would suffer without the beds. The leader must document that decision on a Department of Public Health electronic form within seven calendar days of the emergency’s start. The permission would apply during the justified emergency and would begin only after the required decision is made.

Hospitals would have to report each use of hallway beds to the Department of Public Health and create emergency-care protocols for employees. The reporting would cover every justified emergency in which beds are used in hallways, corridors, or other exit routes; the protocols would cover employees who care for or treat patients. Hospitals would have to keep related records and send copies of the required form to the department at least every three months. Employees responsible for patient care or treatment would have to learn the hospital’s written emergency protocols. Reporting would occur no less than quarterly, and the protocols would apply when justified emergency conditions occur.

Hospitals would have to remove unused beds, keep pathways clear, avoid blocking exits, and protect fire-safety equipment during justified emergencies. These limits would apply to hallways, corridors, and other exit routes used for patient beds during a justified emergency. Hospitals could not build partitions or other structures that block sprinklers, fire alarms, or fire-detection equipment. Beds could remain in these areas only while they were being used to care for patients during the emergency. The safety limits would apply throughout the justified emergency and whenever beds were placed in the listed areas.