fire drill
I work in a 40-story building in lower Manhattan. Given our location and the history of this neighborhood, I'm sure it comes as no surprise that we have fire drills.
It's a simple process. We meet in the lobby for about 15 minutes and discuss safety -- what happens if there's a fire in the building, where to find the fire exits, and where we're supposed ot meet up in the eventwe hav e to evacuate the building. We also discuss sheltering in place in the event conditins outside warrant it, and what to do in the event there's an active shooter on site.
When I was working for another company in Jersey City, we actually walked down the fire stairs (I was n the 30th floor, so that was "fun") and walked to the designated meet-up area. I'm on a much lower floor in this building, but still...
Nevertheless...
Years ago, before the two World Trade Center attacks, I was working for a small law firm located on the 27th floor of a building in lower Manhattan. One hot summer day, our air conditioning stopped working. when the secretary called the building office to complain, she was told that there was a fire on the floor below us, and we needed ot get out of our offices. We never heard an alarm! We were told that we needed ot be five floors below the fire to be safe. that wasn't good enough for my boss, who insisted we walk all the way down to the street. then she took us to a nearby restaurant and bought us a couple of rounds of drinks while we waited for the fire department to leave.
So yes, I do pay attention to fire drills....
It's a simple process. We meet in the lobby for about 15 minutes and discuss safety -- what happens if there's a fire in the building, where to find the fire exits, and where we're supposed ot meet up in the eventwe hav e to evacuate the building. We also discuss sheltering in place in the event conditins outside warrant it, and what to do in the event there's an active shooter on site.
When I was working for another company in Jersey City, we actually walked down the fire stairs (I was n the 30th floor, so that was "fun") and walked to the designated meet-up area. I'm on a much lower floor in this building, but still...
Nevertheless...
Years ago, before the two World Trade Center attacks, I was working for a small law firm located on the 27th floor of a building in lower Manhattan. One hot summer day, our air conditioning stopped working. when the secretary called the building office to complain, she was told that there was a fire on the floor below us, and we needed ot get out of our offices. We never heard an alarm! We were told that we needed ot be five floors below the fire to be safe. that wasn't good enough for my boss, who insisted we walk all the way down to the street. then she took us to a nearby restaurant and bought us a couple of rounds of drinks while we waited for the fire department to leave.
So yes, I do pay attention to fire drills....
I am happy to see your employer takes fire drills seriously, in addition to active shooter situations. I can tell you a couple of not so great fire drill stories (plus engage in a rant about the lack of active shooter preparation, given I work blocks from where one of the 20 worst active shooter situations in the last 20 or so years occured. Anyway...). My absolute non favorite, from only a couple of years ago, was being in a meeting. Someone knocks on the door. "The fire alarm went off", the co-worker says. Nice that someone told us! None of us heard it. Fortunately, it was a drill, and the person responsible for its operation was in my meeting - so THAT (a brand new system) got fixed very quickly. Alana ramblinwitham.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteYes, it’s an unfortunate part of modern America that we have to do this ... but I’m glad to take a few minutes of my day every so often to prepare for the possibility
ReplyDeleteThat's scary to have a fire that you don't know about.
ReplyDelete