Firedrill with SIMS

[creese]

In my opinion anything that delays evac of a building is just plain dangerous. Stopping to press buttons and collect sheets of paper is wasting time. Making sure people get out in an orderly manner and making sure rooms are clear is far more important.

 

Anyone seen how fast fire can spread? My money is on the flames over an HP EdgeLine.

[gpascoe]

What our primary schools do if they complete electronic attendance is to have a laminated class list next to their laptop / desktop and when they are aware of a student being absent they mark them off on the laminted list. Then the list is placed on the board or near the fire exit in the same location so everyone is aware where it is.

 

In the afternoon / nextday the laminated list is wiped and starts again, this also saves printing costs as do not have to reprint a list every am and pm. (One school in the inital stages printed lists every am and pm this cost way too much in ink and paper) Hope that this helps :-)

Edited July 18, 2009 by gpascoe

[creese]

In the afternoon / nextday the laminated list is wiped and starts again, this also saves printing costs as do not have to reprint a list every am and pm. (One school in the inital stages printed lists every am and pm this cost way too much in ink and paper) Hope that this helps :-)

 

That's the advice I give to schools. I think other options are an appalling waste of paper and ink.

 

It would be great if the DCSf or someone came up with an 'official' procedure.

[vikpaw]

At my old school i did a test during a fire drill:

 

i kept one student behind in my office during the drill, then escorted them out but didn't let them return to their registration point. on the way out i found a teacher from a nearby classroom, carefully balancing his cup of coffee whilst trying to lock his door!

 

At the foot of the stairs an assistant head was purportedly supervising the exit, but actually just watching students run past the nearest exit and out to the door on the other side of the corridor which was the easier route out to the meeting point.

 

Meanwhile, at the front of the school, sixth formers from other schools were walking on site, ignoring the bells and trying to get into the building.

 

Suffice to say, the student i kept behind wasn't missed and the Head (another word springs to mind ) a few minutes later announced the drill a success and told everyone to go back into class.

 

Thankfully, as mentioned earlier the fire department shouldn't and don't trust a teacher with a register be it paper or electronic!

 

The site manager and i decided that we were doing the best we could, and that his team always cleared the alarm point (we always checked it wasn't a prank first) and the fire team if they were needed would do it a second time.

[enjay]

students run past the nearest exit and out to the door on the other side of the corridor which was the easier route out to the meeting point.

 

There's not necessarily anything wrong with that. The objective is not in fact to evacuate the building as quickly as possible, but to account for everyone's safe evacuation as quickly as possible. If this means people walk past one door in order to get to another which is nearer the assembly point, that is fine.

[p858snake]

At my old school i did a test during a fire drill:

 

i kept one student behind in my office during the drill, then escorted them out but didn't let them return to their registration point. on the way out i found a teacher from a nearby classroom, carefully balancing his cup of coffee whilst trying to lock his door!

 

At the foot of the stairs an assistant head was purportedly supervising the exit, but actually just watching students run past the nearest exit and out to the door on the other side of the corridor which was the easier route out to the meeting point.

 

Meanwhile, at the front of the school, sixth formers from other schools were walking on site, ignoring the bells and trying to get into the building.

 

Suffice to say, the student i kept behind wasn't missed and the Head (another word springs to mind ) a few minutes later announced the drill a success and told everyone to go back into class.

 

Thankfully, as mentioned earlier the fire department shouldn't and don't trust a teacher with a register be it paper or electronic!

 

The site manager and i decided that we were doing the best we could, and that his team always cleared the alarm point (we always checked it wasn't a prank first) and the fire team if they were needed would do it a second time.

locking a door...... thats a big no no... the fire department needs quick access to all areas and if it means it they will kick/damage a door compared to finding keys for it.

[vikpaw]

There's not necessarily anything wrong with that. The objective is not in fact to evacuate the building as quickly as possible, but to account for everyone's safe evacuation as quickly as possible. If this means people walk past one door in order to get to another which is nearer the assembly point, that is fine.

 

 

and what if they are running towards an area where there is danger or a fire? it wasn't just two doors opposite eachother, they had to go through double doors to access the corridor then out the other side exposing themselves to the fronts of other rooms!

 

i thought the idea was to use the nearest exit to get out and safe asap.

[enjay]

Consider the following:

Route 1 - students leave by the closest exit and walk half-way around the building, arriving at the assembly point in 2m40s.

Route 2 - students pass that door and use another one which puts them on the other side of the building, arriving at the assembly point in 1m20s.

 

The objective is not to clear the building, but to verify that you have done so - this does not happen until every person has arrived safely at the assembly point, so the aim is to leave the building in whatever way achieves that in the least amount of time; using my example above, this would be route 1.

 

Also consider that if the fire is causing 3rd floor windows to blow out, raining glass down on the pathway underneath, walking along a 1st floor corridor might be safer than being outside.

 

This is the advice we were given when reviewing our evacuation routes recently.

[matt40k]

I have to agree with vikpaw, I've also been told to exit by the nearest door and get out of the building as quickly as possible.

 

It covers that possibility that the extra few steps could lead to a nice warm fire making friends with your body, it does however affect your lovely statistics, not that would you care if the fire got you.

[enjay]

There is always the risk that any route will mean you meet the fire - in those instances, you change your plans. BUT, if you know that the fire is in building 1, then surely the best route from building 2 is the one which gets you to the assembly point in the shortest amount of time?

 

So we were told by our fire safety consultant anyway.

[IrritableTech]

At my old place I was on the H&S panel for a bit.

 

One fire drill we blocked a staircase, and told everyone that attempted to leave that way the fire was in that staircase. It caused all sorts of problems, and proved that people needed a reminder of their alternative exit points!

 

We thought about firing off the smoke machine from drama, but were worried it might cause a panic!

[vikpaw]

There is always the risk that any route will mean you meet the fire - in those instances, you change your plans. BUT, if you know that the fire is in building 1, then surely the best route from building 2 is the one which gets you to the assembly point in the shortest amount of time?

 

So we were told by our fire safety consultant anyway.

 

i'm surprised a fire consultant would say that. maybe in a drill situation where things are planned and certain teachers are given a heads up! you probably wont know where the fire is.

 

i still think, get out as quick as possible by the nearest exit. every fire procedures document i've ever read says leave by the nearest exit. keep clear of the building etc.

 

accounting for everyone is not easily possible, that is part of the reason for this thread, we can never know who may be in or come into the building without being registered or accounted for. since we are likely to have incorrect data and the fire dept. wont rely on our registers anyway, the best thing to do is get people out of the building and away from possible danger. the fire dept. will sweep the local area.