The Joint Commission has revised EC.02.03.05 element of per­­formance (EP) 2 regarding fire protection systems in critical access hospitals (CAHs) to ensure that it is equivalent to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Conditions of Participation, according to its July 13 Joint Commission Online e-newsletter. The revision changes the time frame for testing water-flow devices in automatic sprinkler systems from every six months to quarterly. (This change was made to the hospital standard earlier this year.) The Joint Commission also created a new CAH standard (EC.02.03.05, EP 25) to address documentation of maintenance, testing and inspection for fire alarm and water-based fire protection systems in CAHs.

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