Development of Fire Safety Evaluation Indices for Long-term Care Hospitals for the Elderly through Analytic Hierarchy Process Analysis

Abstract

Long-term care hospitals for the elderly are places for the elderly and patients with impaired mobility to live in, but these places face a high risk of great damage in the event of a fire. The standards for fire safety at long-term care hospitals for the elderly are limited to inspection of firefighting facilities and training plans, with no index to evaluate the evacuation plans, facilities for evacuation in case of fire, and the fire response manuals of long-term care hospitals for the elderly. Therefore, this study tries to carry out a basic analysis and establish fire safety evaluation indices for long-term care hospitals for the elderly. To that end, the study derives the importance and priorities of the indices related to fire safety in long-term care hospitals for the elderly through an analytic hierarchy process questionnaire surveying 44 firefighting experts. Finally, considering the importance and priorities of the indices, this study presents fire safety evaluation standards (drafts) for long-term care hospitals for the elderly.