Remember those old school days when we were prepared for the ‘surprise inspection’ and those ‘mock fire drills’, where we were told not to panic and follow the instructions? Panic? What panic? We used to laugh and walk out to the fields because the show would take up a couple of our periods, and that was a good enough reason to participate in those drills.
More than 30 years later, those fire drills are conducted in exactly the same old-fashioned way: false alarms, the same ‘do not panic’ message, leaving the premises to reach the safe spot, the cylinders used to create the fire, the wet cloth, the red fire extinguishers…
Only that, now I know that cylinders are not the only reason for fire. There have been massive fatal fire accidents due to short circuits, or people losing their lives to fire accidents because they had no idea how to save themselves when they are on, say, the 12th floor, or wildfires, and so on… how then would those wet cloths help?
We got a notice in our residential society’s digital notice board that there shall be a mock fire drill on the 21st of May at 10:30 am. When the alarms ring, do not panic and come down using the stairs. I, along with my children, was ready before 10:30. We waited, and no alarm rang. I had called my cook earlier than the usual time. I asked my cleaning lady to come after the drill was over. But nothing happened. I calmly picked up my son’s bat & ball, and his water bottle, and decided to go downstairs either way. We took the lift, reached, and saw that some preparations were going on. We played in the park, and then the age-old demonstration started. In Telugu. Most of our guards are from Orissa. They understand Hindi, Odiya, and Bengali. Hardly 15 residents. Many of us do not understand Telugu. Anyhow, the demonstration lasted for about half an hour and we came back.
Before we had left, my daughter had asked a very important question – “So the alarms ring and we just rush downstairs? Nothing to be carried with us?”
I said, our homes are insured.
“Yes, but still, we may lose everything, even important documents.”
That made me think.
While I am thankful that someone took the initiative of having this drill (most probably, it must be because of the recent fire accident in Hyderabad that claimed the lives of several family members), however I think that it is high time these drills are updated to make them more practical and conducted in a more detailed way. Fire accidents have become very common these days, with several electrical wiring and appliances.
Here are my thoughts, and they may not be very practical, but going by what I have seen over several years, these are the unanswered scenarios in all these drills.
1. A day before the mock drill, the agencies must call a meeting with all the participants (residents or employees) to tell them the detailed plan of action.
Most importantly, how to evacuate. Now, we got the notice on our digital notice board, which mentioned that if we have any elderly or someone who needs help, inform the security beforehand. Great! But the fire just happens. I may not get any chance to inform the guards to help my elderly parents. Tell me how to evacuate my entire family, the elderly, pets, and even very young children.
2. As pointed out by my daughter, each one of the family must always have a kit with the most essential things ready. Something very compact that can be just grabbed while fleeing. Not only fire, but earthquakes or any other sort of emergencies can happen. A kit with a copy of our important identification cards, a bottled water bottle, a non-perishable snack – which must be duly replaced regularly before they get expired (this I saw during one of the earthquake evacuations, where a mother was accidently holding a packet of biscuits and the baby had her bottle round her neck. When they got stuck, these came in handy to help them survive till they were rescued), and a very basic medical kit.
3. Make sure that the building’s fire alarms are in working condition. Check even before the drill.
4. The guards and support staff must be given very specific instructions for what they should do once they hear the alarm. Like, who will lead the operation, who will go to pull out which fire extinguishers, who will go up to help the residents evacuate? They mostly work in shifts, but a specific role for each one of them can avoid the chaos.
5. Do not specify the exact time of the drill. The date is enough. Let people continue their day, and then suddenly the alarm goes off. Somebody is bathing, someone is on the call, someone is in the lift, someone is cooking or is sleeping… nobody actually waits for the fire to happen. Let it be a late night mock drill.
6. When the drill starts, it is only the executor or the leader who knows when to trigger the alarm. Everyone else must act as briefed a day prior.
7. The after-drill demonstration needs a major upgrade. Tell people how to respond to various types of fire accidents. A short circuit in one of the flats where there are no fire extinguishers.
How to evacuate with your family members?
For each of the specific buildings, the demonstrating agency must create a specific plan of evacuation and very thoroughly explained to each of the resident or the employee. My building evacuation route can be different from my brother’s building.
8. What if somebody is caught in the fire? What can that person do, or what should any other nearest available person do?
Many years back when my father’s bank building was caught in fire after a MiG-21 plane crashed on his building, he decided to run back into the strong room as that room has the thickest wall and hard to be damaged but some of his colleagues panicked and they ran straight toward the main door which was where the plane has crashed and was the original point of fire. Some of them lost their lives there, and some got the highest degrees of burns.
I would say, prepare people with practical issues that they can face during such accidents, and let the drill be as close to the real accident as possible. Let there be a disciplined rush to save the lives. Not like what we did. No alarms rang, we calmly picked up our water bottles, bat & ball, took the lift and waited for the demonstration.
Also, I am not sure if this is already a rule or a law, but these drills must be held every year mandatorily.
What are your thoughts about how we prepare ourselves for the worst? Do share them below in the Comments section.
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Image Courtesy: https://unsplash.com/photos/a-close-up-of-a-red-fire-hydrant-PDbrz9VEAFA
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