HospiceCare in The Berkshires Earns National 'Hospice Honors' Recognition

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — HospiceCare in The Berkshires has been recognized as a "Hospice Honors" recipient, one of only six in Massachusetts. The designation is based on survey results from 2016.

The "Deyta Family Evaluation of Hospice Care" (FEHC) survey evaluates a hospice's performance on 24 satisfaction indicator measures. To earn the "Honors" designation, HospiceCare in The Berkshires had to be above the national average in at least 20 of the evaluated questions.

"We congratulate all of the compassionate caregivers at HospiceCare in The Berkshires for this great achievement," said Michelle Chappell, executive director of HospiceCare. "We know that they provide excellent care on a daily basis but it is rewarding to receive recognition from an independent organization."


Deyta surveys patients and families of approximately 1,700 hospice services across the nation and this year recognized 331 with the Hospice Honors designation, putting HospiceCare in The Berkshires in the top fifth of agencies surveyed.

Survey results are obtained from family members of patients who received hospice services, and reflect opinions about overall quality of care, patient experience, family experience, and the medical, spiritual and emotional aspects of care.

HospiceCare in The Berkshires is a nonprofit organization with 35 years’ experience providing compassionate end-of-life care. Services include ensuring patient comfort, managing symptoms, providing personal care and companionship, respite care, and end-of-life planning. HospiceCare in The Berkshires also offers counseling services to help anyone in the community through the grieving process.


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State Fire Marshal: New Tracking Tool Identifies 50 Lithium-Ion Battery Fires

STOW, Mass. — The Massachusetts Department of Fire Services' new tool for tracking lithium-ion battery fires has helped to identify 50 such incidents in the past six months, more than double the annual average detected by a national fire data reporting system, said State Fire Marshal Jon M. Davine.
 
The Department of Fire Services launched its Lithium-Ion Battery Fire Investigative Checklist on Oct. 13, 2023. It immediately went into use by the State Police Fire & Explosion Investigation Unit assigned to the State Fire Marshal's office, and local fire departments were urged to adopt it as well. 
 
Developed by the DFS Fire Safety Division, the checklist can be used by fire investigators to gather basic information about fires in which lithium-ion batteries played a part. That information is then entered into a database to identify patterns and trends.
 
"We knew anecdotally that lithium-ion batteries were involved in more fires than the existing data suggested," said State Fire Marshal Davine. "In just the past six months, investigators using this simple checklist have revealed many more incidents than we've seen in prior years."
 
Prior to the checklist, the state's fire service relied on battery fire data reported to the Massachusetts Fire Incident Reporting System (MFIRS), a state-level tool that mirrors and feeds into the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS). NFIRS tracks battery fires but does not specifically gather data on the types of batteries involved. Some fields do not require the detailed information that Massachusetts officials were seeking, and some fires may be coded according to the type of device involved rather than the type of battery. Moreover, MFIRS reports sometimes take weeks or months to be completed and uploaded.
 
"Investigators using the Lithium-Ion Battery Fire Checklist are getting us better data faster," said State Fire Marshal Davine. "The tool is helpful, but the people using it are the key to its success."
 
From 2019 to 2023, an average of 19.4 lithium-ion battery fires per year were reported to MFIRS – less than half the number identified by investigators using the checklist over the past six months. The increase since last fall could be due to the growing number of consumer devices powered by these batteries, increased attention by local fire investigators, or other factors, State Fire Marshal Davine said. For example, fires that started with another item but impinged upon a battery-powered device, causing it to go into thermal runaway, might not be categorized as a battery fire in MFIRS or NFIRS.
 
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