Medical Emergency > Likes and Comments

Hey Steve, funnily enough I work in health care. Most of the time when a fire alarm has gone off in a hospital, it's because of a) someone has burned toast in the toaster or b) a patient has been smoking in the toilet! That's why most staff seem pretty chill when it happens.

Most modern hospitals are fire zoned so too if an alarm is going off with a certain tone it's likely not in your immediate area and you can carry on and just be aware of what is happening in the building. Most fire evacuation plans have horizontal movements whereby you evacuate your patients to the next ward over left or right rather than up/down. Everywhere has fire doors too, which means that you have so long to evacuate as the fire doors will hold back fire for at least 30-120 minutes.

Have to say though, an actual fire in a hospital can be devastating. I remember one in an old London hospital a little while ago and the building was decimated. I wouldn't relish the thought of having to evacuate anaesthetised patients or indeed those with dementia (it would be like herding cats!)

Sophy wrote: "Hey Steve, funnily enough I work in health care. Most of the time when a fire alarm has gone off in a hospital, it's because of a) someone has burned toast in the toaster or b) a patient has been s..."
Thanks, Sophy! We figured that staff knew what to do, but nothing like this had ever happened to us before. The odd smell I noticed may have had nothing to do with it—there was never any follow-up and the building seems fine. Thanks for the info!