School is now officially back in session all across the country, and you know what that means, right? Outside of teaching students about math, spelling, social studies, and more, schools are also going to be implementing fire safety plans to prevent problems in the event of a fire inside of a school. They are going to be showing students the safest ways to evacuate buildings during fires and talking to them about why it’s important to follow the proper procedures during fire drills. Here are tips that schools should keep in mind when planning a fire drill for their students:
Create a fire evacuation plan.
Before schools can hold fire drills with students, they need to come up with fire evacuation plans that work for them based on their specific school buildings. This often involves working with the local fire department to come up with routes for students to take during evacuations. These plans should be easy to understand, and they should also be detailed in fire evacuation maps that are then posted in hallways and classrooms.
Inform teachers about the plan and make sure they understand it.
Once a fire evacuation plan has been put into place, schools should spend time speaking with teachers about plans their individual classrooms. The teachers are ultimately going to be the ones in charge of guiding their students to safety during a fire, so they need to understand the evacuation plan they will be following to do it. They need to know everything from which exit door to use during a fire drill to where their students should gather once they have made their way outdoors.
Hold fire drills at least once every month.
When school starts up in the fall, teachers should inform their students about the fire evacuation plan they will follow during fire drills. They should then work with school administrators to hold fire drills at least once every month. This will give teachers and students the chance to practice following their fire evacuation plans, and it will give administrators and local fire officials the opportunity to make any adjustments to their original plan based on issues that might creep up during drills.
Life Safety Consultants fully supports the idea of schools holding fire drills early and often during the school year. We can also provide schools with any fire alarm parts they might need to make their buildings safer. Call us at 888-557-0558 today to learn about the products and services we have to offer.
