Module 2 of 2 · 40 minutes
Your role in the first two minutes
By the end of this module you will be able to
- Act correctly on discovering a fire, in the right order
- Use the right extinguisher, and know when not to
- Assist an evacuation within your training and the person's PEEP
- Explain what happens after: roll call, handover and the fire service
Work through it
1 interactive for this module, built on the WAJD Teach engine. Nothing moves until you ask it to, and every one has a written version if you would rather read it.
Amara Fire alarm goes. What do I do first?
Nadia Raise the alarm, and that is genuinely first. Not check, not look, not think about whether it is real.
Amara But most alarms are toast.
Nadia Most are, and that is exactly why people delay, and why the seconds get lost. In a care home those seconds decide whether you can move people sideways in time at all.
Amara Then the fire service?
Nadia Call them, or confirm somebody has. And never assume the alarm did it. Some systems call automatically, plenty do not, and I thought it was automatic turns up in investigation reports.
Amara Then get people out.
Nadia Close the door on the fire first. It takes a second and it buys the compartment thirty or sixty minutes. Then move people, in order of danger, into the next compartment.
Amara You keep coming back to doors.
Nadia Because it is the single most effective thing one person can do in a building fire, it costs nothing, and it takes no time. Close doors behind you as you go.
Amara Extinguishers. There are five and I know none of them.
Nadia Water for wood, paper and textiles. Foam for those plus flammable liquids. CO2 for electrical, no residue. Dry powder for nearly everything, and it destroys visibility instantly.
Amara Which sounds bad indoors.
Nadia It is close to useless indoors in an occupied building, because you have just blinded everybody including yourself. And wet chemical for cooking oils, which is the kitchen one.
Amara What must I never do?
Nadia Water or foam on live electrics. And never water on a fat fire, which does not extinguish, it erupts.
Amara Should I fight a fire at all?
Nadia Honestly? Usually not, and most training is too coy about this.
Amara Go on.
Nadia Four conditions, all of them. It is small. You have a clear escape route behind you. You are trained on that extinguisher. And evacuation is already under way. Miss any one and you get people out instead.
Amara So what is the extinguisher actually for?
Nadia Buying an escape route. Not firefighting. That is somebody else's job and they have breathing apparatus.
Amara How do I decide who to move first?
Nadia By danger, not by preference. Room of origin first, then either side, then the rest of the compartment. And use each person's PEEP: the equipment it specifies and the number of staff it specifies.
Amara Evacuation sheets look simple enough.
Nadia They look simple and they are not. Using one untrained on a stairway is dangerous for both of you. If you have not been trained on it, that is not your equipment today.
Amara And afterwards?
Nadia Roll call, and it has to be accurate. Because if you get it wrong, the fire service will send people into a burning building to search for somebody who is standing in the car park.
Amara That is a horrible thought.
Nadia It is why the roll call matters more than it looks. And make sure you know how your service accounts for visitors, contractors and agency staff, because none of them are on the rota you are holding.
The written material
On discovering a fire
The sequence is fixed and it is short. Raise the alarm. Call the fire service, or confirm somebody has. Close the door on the fire, because a closed door buys the compartment thirty or sixty minutes. Then move people, in order of danger, into the next fire compartment.
Raise the alarm first, always. People delay it while they check whether it is serious, and in a care setting those seconds are the ones that determine whether progressive horizontal evacuation is possible at all.
Never assume the alarm has called the fire service. Some systems do, many do not, and 'I thought it was automatic' appears in fire investigation reports.
Extinguishers, and the honest answer about using them
Water for wood, paper and textiles. Foam for those plus flammable liquids. CO2 for electrical and liquids, and it leaves no residue. Dry powder for almost everything but it destroys visibility instantly and is rarely appropriate indoors in an occupied building. Wet chemical for cooking oils and fats, which is the kitchen one.
Never water or foam on live electrical equipment, and never water on a fat fire, which will erupt.
The honest position: only tackle a fire if it is small, you have a clear escape route behind you, you have been trained on that extinguisher, and evacuation is already under way. Otherwise get people out. An extinguisher is for buying an escape route, not for firefighting.
- Water: wood, paper, textiles
- Foam: as water, plus flammable liquids
- CO2: electrical and liquids, no residue
- Wet chemical: cooking oils and fats
- Never water or foam on electrics; never water on fat
Assisting people, and what happens afterwards
Move people according to their personal emergency evacuation plan, using the equipment and the number of staff it specifies. Evacuation sheets and ski pads require training: using one untrained on a stairway is dangerous for both of you.
Priority is by danger, not by preference: the room of origin first, then either side, then the rest of the compartment. Do not go back into a compartment you have cleared, and never re enter the building for possessions or an animal.
Afterwards there is a roll call, and it has to be accurate, because the fire service will risk lives searching for somebody who is actually standing in the car park. Know how your service accounts for people, including visitors, contractors and agency staff who are not on the rota you are holding.
Then hand over to the fire service: where the fire is, who is unaccounted for and where they were last seen, where oxygen cylinders and any hazards are, and where the fire panel is.
Knowledge check
The knowledge check and your certificate need a free account, so that your progress and results can be saved as evidence.
The learning itself stays free and open. You are reading all of it right now without an account.