Fire Emergency Preparation for Schools
Fire outbreak can occur at any place, at any point in time regardless of whether the place is filled with kids or the elderly. Fire has no reservations for age when you do not put the right control measures in place.
Even if there are systems in place such as smoke alarms and water sprinklers. All these are to raise an alarm, call our attention and automatically attempt to extinguish the fire at an early stage. They do not prevent fire from starting in the first place if adequate preventive measures are absent.
Should this happen in the school where we have kids, the teachers among others, it will be a good idea to develop, implement and review the emergency preparation plans.
Before we go down to the business of today, we can provide safety support by helping your schools, organizations, home develop an effective fire emergency plan. Also we can educate your staff, students and kids on how to prevent fires and what to do when there is a fire.
Do reach out to us now.
Now back to class.
The fire emergency preparation plan involves two things. These are namely awareness and accountabilities. The first thing the we should do is to have a well designed exit plan, have it printed out and issued to staff and the kids. Should an emergency occur, everyone will be aware of the nearest emergency exit This should be posted in each classroom with lighted signage’s showing the way.
It is only after a well thought of plan is made that this should be explained to the students. Visitors should also be regularly given a general safety induction to include emergency plans.
This should also be discussed regularly on assembly lines to make the kids to be aware of the plan. This should be firmly stressed because this could mean a matter of life or death to everyone when this happens. .
There may be fire drills conducted once or twice a year but these are not done on a regular basis. This means that many will panic when the real thing happens so preparedness is something that should not be taken lightly.
Accountability starts from who first noticed the fire until the evacuation has been done. Everyone is accountable for his safety and the safety of the next person. If there is smoke coming out of one room, the individual who sees it first should not open the door because oxygen will just make the fire stronger causing a back draft and a possible explosion.
This is why training all students and staff on how to use the fire extinguisher becomes necessary. A fire alarm is raised immediately and the person evacuates the building immediately. If there isn’t a fire extinguisher or the person doesn’t know how to, The individual should immediately call the attention of everyone so that the situation can be addressed by trained individual wbile others move to the muster point.
There should be fire extinguishers situated along the hallways or in the classrooms. These can be used to handle small fires but should not be used to handle bigger ones because there is not enough to kill the blaze. The person should not try to be a hero but rather help get other people out.
There will usually be a lot of smoke making it difficult to see what is in front. To avoid suffocating, it will be a good idea to put something to cover the face, go down and crawl out (this has been discussed in our previous articles).
Elevators should never been used in the event of a fire. The power could short out keeping the person trapped inside and even cause death due to smoke inhalation. All personnel should use the stairs since this is the fastest way to get out.
Should someone be caught on fire, such person can be helped by putting a heavy blanket to put out the flames. If this should happen to the person, the right thing to do would be to stop, drop and roll.
The last part of any fire preparation plan is the assembly point where everyone in the class should meet so everyone can be accounted for. Everyone should stay put until someone with higher authority issues the order that it is safe to go back inside.
Everyone should be well aware of the fire emergency preparation plan since this is the only way to get out of a dangerous situation.
TO develop an effective fire emergency response plan for your school, home, organization, you can reach out to us via out contacts. We will also train you, your workforce, staff, kids and family (as the case maybe) on fire safety and emergency response plan.
Do call us on +2348028657826
You can also send a mail to Waliu-hse@qodargroup.com
