Bennett Glover asked: You have just been appointed as a part of the fire brigade in your office. This means that in cases emergencies, you are responsible for:
- Assessing the situation to find out what caused the flames and if you have to correct tools to fight it.
- Fighting the flames if it is something manageable
- And if not, calling the proper authorities to handle the situation as you calmly usher your colleagues towards pre – determined exits.
Everything sounds easy right? However, as you went about the training, you found that there are so many terms and things to remember. You actually start being nervous with the fact that you might not remember everything after the training. But do not worry because you can facilitate information retention by posting a helpful “cheat sheet” on your cubicle where you can see it every day.
Are you ready to get started with your cheat sheet? If you are, then here are the information that you should see in them.
o The fire station’s phone number – Which station number should you include on your list? You should list down the one that covers your area and to be safe, you may want to include numbers of stations surrounding your town.
o The types of blazes, their causes and the appropriate extinguishers to fight them with – These are important information to remember because if you know the cause of the blaze, there is a bigger success rate in fighting it.
When writing them down, do not bother with long sentences and paragraphs because information retention is so much better if you just see what’s important. Here is an example:
For Class A type of blaze which is caused by dry wood, leaves, paper, cloth and trash, the appropriate extinguishers to be used is APW (Air Pressurized Water) Extinguisher and foam fire extinguisher with monoammonium phosphate.
For Class B type of blaze which is caused by materials with combustible liquid like gasoline, kerosene and oil, the appropriate extinguishers to be used is CO2 fire extinguishers and chemical extinguishers with sodium bicarbonate, potassium bicarbonate and monoammonium phosphate.
For Class C type which is commonly caused by gases LPG or combustible natural gas, the appropriate extinguishers to be used is wet chemical extinguishers.
For Class D type that is caused by flammable metals like potassium and magnesium, extinguishers to be used is specialized Class D extinguishers.
For Class E that is caused by electrical sparks, the appropriate extinguisher to be used is carbon dioxide extinguishers and all chemical extinguishers.
And for Class F from kitchen fires caused by combustion of edible oil, extinguisher to be used is specialized blankets and wet chemical extinguishers.
Note: In an office setting, Class A and Class E fires tend to be more rampant. So if you want your office to be fire proof, you may want to discourage smoking while in the building and be sensitive to the condition or the appliances and equipment that you have in the office. Remember, sparks and electrical explosions are commonly caused by overheating and electric over loading.
o Checklist of what you should be doing – These can be general guidelines like:
- When your clothing catches fire drop and roll.
- Exits are at ______ (identify the locations of the exits in your buildings)
- Whatever happens, do not panic!
Of course you can add more statements as you wish. Just make sure that you keep your sentences short and add a sense of urgency into them.
Those are the basic information that you should put in your cheat sheet. And while your cheat sheet is something that you came up with for your personal use, that should not stop you from sharing the information you have with your officemates as well.
Adriel
