# Hospital catching on fire; what's the protocol? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 23, 2017, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hospital-catching-on-fire-whats-the-protocol/782812 "2017-03-23T03:15:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hospital-catching-on-fire-whats-the-protocol/782812/21 "2017-03-24T10:58:27Z")
My favorite rescue devices in the event of fire or flood or whatever…[infant emergency evacuation aprons](http://www.safebabiesaprons.com/). They’re basically oversized gardening aprons with large pockets front and back that you can plop babies into so each nurse can carry up to four of them to safety. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hospital-catching-on-fire-whats-the-protocol/782812/22 "2017-03-24T11:22:16Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > My favorite rescue devices in the event of fire or flood or whatever…[infant emergency evacuation aprons](http://www.safebabiesaprons.com/). > > They’re basically oversized gardening aprons with large pockets front and back that you can plop babies into so each nurse can carry up to four of them to safety. Don’t their soft spots allow infants to be carried like six-packs? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hospital-catching-on-fire-whats-the-protocol/782812/23 "2017-03-24T11:40:36Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Don’t their soft spots allow infants to be carried like six-packs? You need hands like [Johnny Bench.](http://i.imgur.com/8lHxKgB.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hospital-catching-on-fire-whats-the-protocol/782812/24 "2017-03-27T14:14:58Z")
Thanks for the replies everyone. I’m still wondering though - how long can a surgical operation be interrupted? Are surgeons and nurses expected to rush back to resume surgery as soon as possible, after an earthquake/tornado/fire/shooting/attack, given that the patient will soon awake from the anesthesia and still is lying on the bed sliced open? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hospital-catching-on-fire-whats-the-protocol/782812/25 "2017-03-27T14:16:02Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Every hospital I have ever been in looked impossible to burn down. They’re all concrete-wall-divided structures, like giant apartment buildings. Fires do not spread easily in such a building, especially if there’s any sort of fire suppressant system. > > Fire drills are wise since an area of a hospital can burn, and there are things in a hospital you really, really do not want to get hot. But the idea of a really widespread fire in a hospital just seems unlikely to me from what I’ve seen of how they are built, and I am sure that’s deliberate. Right - concrete walls and fire sprinklers and very sturdy structure - but isn’t the paint on the walls usually the fastest way of fire spread? ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hospital-catching-on-fire-whats-the-protocol/782812/26 "2017-03-27T14:59:28Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Thanks for the replies everyone. > > I’m still wondering though - how long can a surgical operation be interrupted? Are surgeons and nurses expected to rush back to resume surgery as soon as possible, after an earthquake/tornado/fire/shooting/attack, given that the patient will soon awake from the anesthesia and still is lying on the bed sliced open? Theatres are separate from the rest of the building and so long as the fire isn’t actually in that area, they will have at least half and probably an hour to make safe and bail out. Chances are that the situation will be under control long before that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hospital-catching-on-fire-whats-the-protocol/782812.md?page=1)