Fire fighters evacuate Essex hospital

A hospital in Chelmsford, Essex which provides out-patient services was evacuated last Thursday morning by fire crew, following a fire which started in a waiting room.

The fire was reported to have involved chairs catching fire and so everybody within St John’s Hospital in Wood Street had to be cleared from the building by the fire fighters.

When Essex Fire and Rescue Service arrived at the scene, the area was filled with heavy smoke and it took them 20 minutes to get the blaze under control. It was later revealed that nobody had been injured in the fire.

This situation just goes to show that fire safety in medical centres and hospitals is important, as you are dealing with members of the public who are coming and going from the premises at any given time. This is why, with this added degree of difficulty (in determining who is in the building at the time of a fire), staff need to be trained in handling these kinds of situations.

Another thing which needs to be taken into account is that many of the people at hospitals will be suffering from physical conditions and other ailments so your employees need to be aware of how to deal with these occurrences.

Therefore, it may be necessary to send your staff on a Fire Safety in Medical Centres and Hospitals course, which will cover all of the areas mentioned above, while incorporating the key points of the Fire Warden course too.