S0630.01I

SB 136 - This act would allow Residential Care Facilities I and II, which meet specific fire safety, staffing and training requirements to admit and/or retain persons who are physically capable, but who are mentally incapable, of negotiating a normal path to safety without assistance.

The facility must be equipped with (1) an approved automatic sprinkler and (2) an electrically supervised fire alarm system which shall have either batteries or a generator as an emergency source of power and alarm bells or other sounding devices. The fire alarm systems, with manual pull stations, shall be located at or near each exit or nurses station.

Any multi-story facility shall have at least two unobstructed exits remote from each other. One exit must be an outside stairway or an enclosed stairway separated by at least one 1-hour firewall. The second exit may lead to a lobby, if such lobby has exit facilities leading directly outside at ground level.

The facility must have an adequate number and type of personnel on duty twenty-four hours a day. The required staff persons shall be awake, dressed and prepared to assist residents in case of an emergency. Newly employed personnel must have at least twenty hours of orientation training within thirty days of employment and four hours of this time shall relate to the care and safety of residents with Alzheimer's disease and/or related dementia.

CHERYL GRAZIER