Fire safety, detection and evacuation for the

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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.

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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.

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• 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.

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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.
• 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.

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• 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.

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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

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• 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.
  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.

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• Exit doors are also something you need to pay
  heed to when it comes 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.

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Fire and safety

• Emirates Fire Rescue
• Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Street,
• Al Qudra Holding Building, Floor No. 2,
• Ministries Area, Abu Dhabi.
• Phone [phone]
• Fax [phone]
• Email info_at_emiratesfire.ae