10.4.1　Indoor Fire Hydrants

An indoor fire hydrant is a basic fire extinguishing facility for controlling incipient fires in buildings; therefore, indoor fire hydrants should generally be installed in buildings. Since the fire load in a clean operating room is strictly controlled, and even if a fire hydrant is installed in the room it often cannot be used, in accordance with the provisions of the building fire protection design code, when fire hydrants are required in a building, the hydrants that should be installed in the operating room may be relocated to a nearby location, such as the corridor outside the operating room. However, regardless of where they are installed, it must be ensured that they can perform their intended function so that they can be used to effectively extinguish fires in the operating room. Fire hydrants arranged outside the operating room shall ensure that the solid water streams of two nozzles can simultaneously reach any part inside the operating room. The fire water demand and the protection radius of fire hydrants, etc. shall comply with the provisions of the corresponding building fire protection design code.

When some buildings are small in scale and indoor fire hydrants are not required by the regulations, portable fire extinguishing facilities such as fire hose reels or light-duty fire hoses shall be provided based on actual firefighting needs.

[Reference] ① Fire hose reel. A fire hose reel is a fire extinguishing appliance composed of a valve, inlet piping, reel, hose, nozzle, etc., which can discharge the extinguishing agent while the hose is being rapidly unrolled; it is also known as a fire hose connection or fire reel. Fire hose reels shall comply with the requirements of the national standard Fire Hose Reels (GB15090-94).

② Light-duty fire hose. A light-duty fire hose is a small, simple water spray firefighting device used on tap water supply pipelines, composed of a dedicated fire coupling, hose, and nozzle, etc. Light-duty fire hoses shall comply with the requirements of the national public industry standard Light-Duty Fire Hose (GN180-1998).

10.4.2　Building Fire Extinguishers

Building fire extinguishers are lightweight and effective fire extinguishing facilities for extinguishing incipient indoor fires when people are present; any public building should be equipped with such fire extinguishing facilities. Therefore, clean operating departments should also be provided with building fire extinguishers. The configuration of building fire extinguishers should be determined in combination with the characteristics of the personnel in the hospital, the environmental conditions of the clean operating department, and the types of combustibles, with different classes of fire extinguishers provided for different areas. For clean areas such as operating rooms, it is advisable to provide fire extinguishers using gaseous extinguishing agents as the medium; for non-clean areas, they may be provided depending on the situation. For premises where fires involving combustible solids predominate, fire extinguishers capable of extinguishing Class A fires should be provided; for premises where fires involving combustible liquids (such as flammable medical disinfectants, solvents, etc.) predominate, fire extinguishers for extinguishing Class B fires should preferably be provided; for premises where mixed fires involving combustible solids, combustible gases, and combustible liquids may occur, fire extinguishers capable of extinguishing Class A, Class B, and Class C fires should be provided.

The clean operating department should generally be equipped with relatively small fire extinguishers, and gaseous extinguishing agents should preferably be selected as the extinguishing agent type. However, their fire rating, quantity provided, protection radius, mounting height, etc. shall in no case be lower than the requirements of the current national standard Code for Design of Extinguisher Distribution in Buildings (GBJ140-90).

【Reference】 According to the national standard Classification of Fires (GB4968-85), fire classes are defined as follows:

Class A fire: a fire involving solid materials; such substances, e.g., wood, cotton, wool, paper, etc., are often organic in nature and generally produce glowing embers when burning.

Class B fire: a fire caused by combustible liquids and meltable solid substances such as gasoline, diesel oil, asphalt, ethanol, paraffin, etc.

Class C fire: a fire caused by gases such as coal gas, natural gas, propane, hydrogen, etc.

Class D fire: a fire caused by metals such as potassium, sodium, magnesium, titanium, zirconium, etc.

10.4.3 Automatic Sprinkler System

Automatic sprinkler systems have a long history of application, stable operating performance, and are safe, reliable, and convenient to maintain and manage; they can be used for protected objects and premises in all kinds of buildings where fire extinguishing with water is permitted and the conditions are suitable. Numerous facts have shown that automatic sprinkler systems can promptly extinguish incipient fires and issue fire alarm signals, thereby reducing fire losses. At the same time, because water is discharged in a timely manner, they can also lower the temperature within the burning space, making it difficult for the fire to spread and expand; they have good fire-extinguishing and fire-control effects and are the most widely applied and effective active fire-extinguishing facilities.

An automatic sprinkler system is a fixed fire-extinguishing system composed of components such as sprinkler heads, alarm valve sets, and water flow indicators, together with water distribution piping and water supply facilities, which starts automatically to discharge water to extinguish or control a fire when a fire occurs or the ambient temperature rises abnormally; it includes closed and deluge automatic sprinkler systems as well as water curtain fire-protection systems.

When an automatic sprinkler system needs to be installed in a building, in consideration of the function of the operating room, sprinkler heads may be omitted inside the operating room, but they shall still be installed as required in other auxiliary rooms, corridors, non-clean areas, and similar spaces. Automatic sprinkler systems take various forms; for the clean operating department, a closed automatic sprinkler system with an operating temperature of 68℃ should generally be adopted, considered as Ordinary Hazard Level I. The specific design shall comply with the current national standard Code of Design for Sprinkler Systems (GB50084-2001).

【Reference】 When an automatic sprinkler system needs to be installed, sprinkler heads may be omitted inside the operating room. The design of the automatic sprinkler system shall comply with the current national standard Code of Design for Sprinkler Systems (GB50084).