Fire Safety, Detection and Evacuation for the Elderly - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Fire Safety, Detection and Evacuation for the Elderly

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Unfortunately, senses and mobility deteriorate slowly as people get older, making it increasingly difficult to do the things they found easygoing in their youth. Ultimately, this puts the elderly at greater risk of injury or worse if a fire started than the youthful. As such, it is of the utmost importance that we prepare our properties and businesses for the potential outbreak of fire adequately and thoroughly to ensure the elderly we care for remain in the safest hands at all times. – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Fire Safety, Detection and Evacuation for the Elderly


1
Fire Safety, Detection and Evacuation for the
Elderly
2
  • Unfortunately, senses and mobility deteriorate
    slowly as people get older, making it
    increasingly difficult to do the things they
    found easygoing in their youth. Ultimately, this
    puts the elderly at greater risk of injury or
    worse if a fire started than the youthful. As
    such, it is of the utmost importance that we
    prepare our properties and businesses for the
    potential outbreak of fire adequately and
    thoroughly to ensure the elderly we care for
    remain in the safest hands at all times.

3
Preparation
  • There is no such thing as too much preparation
    when it comes to fire safety, especially when the
    safety of the vulnerable is in jeopardy. Firstly,
    you should seriously consider hiring a fire
    safety professional to come to your building to
    inspect it for potential fire hazards and to help
    coordinate an effective fire safety plan you can
    implement.
  • One such thing they will suggest involves
    installing fire doors throughout the building in
    order to impede the spread of the fire. Fire
    doors are designed to withstand extreme
    temperatures, and they feature a seal that
    cushions them in the doorframe which expands
    under such temperatures and blocks smoke from
    infesting other rooms.

4
  • Where you position the fire doors is also
    critical because the fire doors will provide a
    safe route along which you can evacuate the
    building. You should prepare for the possibility
    of encountering a fire even along this route by
    placing fire extinguishers along the route. For
    more information on where and how to mount fire
    extinguishers, you should consult our article
    last month here.
  • Further preparation you could undertake in your
    building involves the proper signage and lighting
    of escape routes and exits. The lighting should
    allow even the most impaired to find their way
    along the route and the signs should be clearly
    visible and easily understood.

5
Detection
  • It can be very difficult for the elderly to
    detect fire themselves or to heed the alarms when
    they sound due to their impaired senses or
    mobility, reducing their ability to act. You can
    combat this in your property through a number of
    methods.You should able to detect fire then only
    you can start Fire and safety steps.
  • Firstly, you should purchase detectors that are
    designed with the elderly and impaired in mind
    and have features to accommodate their needs.
    These features could involve a louder than normal
    alarm, but more importantly it could involve a
    strobe light that provides an extra method to
    alert those in the building with hearing
    problems.

6
  • Following this, you should also ensure that there
    is an alarm on every floor of the building and
    that these are appropriately placed around the
    floor so that no area remains unmonitored. These
    detectors should then be linked together so that
    if one goes off all will follow.
  • It may also be worth investing in personal alarms
    for elderly residents in care homes to further
    ensure that they are alerted in the event of a
    fire. These could be placed under the residents
    pillows at night and vibrate when the universal
    system is triggered, waking the resident up so
    they can evacuate themselves or ready themselves
    for aid with evacuation.

7
Evacuation
  • The preparations you have made beforehand will
    help you to safely exit the building upon the
    detection of a fire. Here there a couple of areas
    that are of the most importance that we shall
    cover, but when formulating your own evacuation
    plan you should run it by a professional to
    ensure it is foolproof. It is paramount that you
    have a rigorous evacuation plan in place so that
    you know how to exit the building safely, or that
    your staff are fully trained to deal with the
    event of fire and able to help those inside who
    may struggle to leave the premises

8
  • One area you will need to pay particular
    attention to during the preparation stage that
    will make or break your evacuation plan involves
    the suitability of your refuge areas, these is
    the major part in Fire and safety plans.
    Regrettably, it may not be possible for fire
    services to rescue all residents quickly enough,
    making it essential that they are protected from
    danger until rescue arrives through fire safety
    measures, like accessible refuge areas and fire
    doors along evacuation routes, to protect them by
    preventing conditions from becoming
    life-threatening.

9
  • Exit doors are also something you need to pay
    heed to when it comes Fire and safety to care
    homes. These should normally open in the
    direction of travel and be quickly and easily
    openable without the need for a key, but wherever
    premises require extra security, such as in a
    retirement or care home where there is a risk of
    the elderly wandering out of the building
    unsupervised, then some form of security latches
    on final exit doors can be installed instead. The
    area before the exit door should also serve the
    same function as a refuge area.

10
Fire and safety
  • Emirates Fire Rescue
  • Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Street,
  • Al Qudra Holding Building, Floor No. 2,
  • Ministries Area, Abu Dhabi.
  • Phone 971 2 444 3900
  • Fax 971 2 5519954
  • Email info_at_emiratesfire.ae
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