0203 124 1632

Request a Quote Just fill in your details below and we'll get back to you as soon as we can!

What happens next?

1. We get back in touch
A member of our team will quickly get back to you to discuss your enquiry in more detail.
2. Free site visit
If it will help decide on the best way to proceed with your enquiry, one of our team will make a free visit to your premises to assess your requirements.
3. Free quotation
We’ll send you a free quotation for the work, and because we always aim to beat other quotes, you can be sure it will be very competitive.
4. We carry out the work
We'll send an engineer to carry out the work as soon as we can. This will be very soon for maintenance and fire extinguishers, and a few weeks for full alarm systems.

Begin your search:

Nursing Home Fire Drills

Nursing Home Fire Drills

care

Fire drills are an integral part of all fire safety programs, and are a legal requirement for any commercial property. Based on findings detailed in the building’s fire risk assessment, an evacuation plan should be accurately defined, citing escape routes, fire exits and assembly points.

The best way to ensure that this means of escape is effective is by performing regular fire drills to test and finetune the process. This will allow fire marshals to pay attention to the performance of alarms, the suitability of escape routes, access to assembly points and any other factors that may have an impact on the success of an evacuation in the event of a real fire.

Nursing Home Fire Drills

Certain commercial environments will need to make special accommodations when it comes to fire drills – particularly those that have a high number of occupants with mobility issues. Nursing homes are one such place, with many vulnerable residents potentially having difficulty in evacuating in a quick and efficient manner.

With this in mind, any fire risk assessment (required by law for organisations that employ five or more staff members) carried out will have to detail steps taken to protect those at special risk, such as the elderly or disabled, and these precautions must be communicated to all employees. This includes setting a specific set of guidelines for fire drills, taking a number of factors into consideration.

Raising the Alarm

It may be the case that a nursing home has a number of residents who are hard-of-hearing. If so, specialised equipment must be in place in order to keep these occupants safe. This often takes the form of a fire alarm synchronised with warning lights, or otherwise connected to an internal paging system.

Whether as part of a drill or not, regular testing of a property’s fire alarm is required under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order, and it is recommended that this occurs weekly. Testing alarms on the same day and at the same time each week will help to limit panic among residents, and will encourage greater attention to be paid to alarms that sound outside of this time.

Evacuation

fire-exit

It is not entirely necessary for all occupants to perform a full evacuation of the premises during a drill. Those who may be exempt include those that cannot be moved for health reasons; those who are required to remain with residents that cannot be moved; those charged with operating equipment or processes that cannot be stopped, even temporarily. A risk assessment performed prior to the drill should determine which residents or occupants fall into these categories.

Depending on the passive fire resistance in place within the building, it may be possible for vulnerable residents to be moved to nearby areas of the premises that will remain unaffected by fire for a minimum of 30 minutes, allowing rescue services to extinguish the blaze. If the correct facilities are in place, this can be something that is implemented into the fire drill procedure.

Contact us for fire warden training . For more information fill out our contact form or give us a call.

Request a Callback

Just fill in your details below and we'll get back to you as soon as we can!

Scutum South East Logo

About Scutum South East

Scutum South East is a leading expert in fire safety and security solutions for businesses and organisations located across South East England, including London and Surrey.

From fire alarms, fire extinguishers and fire risk assessments to access control, CCTV and intruder alarm systems – and a lot more besides – we offer a comprehensive range of products and services designed to keep you, your business and your staff and visitors safe.

With decades of industry experience to call on, we’re proud to hold accreditations from leading trade associations and bodies such as British Approvals for Fire Equipment (BAFE), the British Fire Consortium, the Fire Industry Association (FIA) and Security Systems and Alarms Inspection Board (SSAIB).

If you’d like to find out more about Scutum South East, get in touch with our friendly team or explore our products and services on our site.

Top