Before dealing with fire, it’s vital to know what to do and respond in such cases. That’s where the FED comes in handy, especially in places like schools, hospitals, offices, and other spots.
Now, what FED stands for in fire safety? Well, the FED stands for Fire Evacuation Drill. It’s a simulation that teaches individuals to evacuate from a zone in a fire incident.
In this guide, I’ll break down everything about fire evacuation drills so that you know it all. Stay tuned till the end!
The FED Stand For Fire Evacuation Drill!
The FED or Fire Evacuation Drill is a method to help folks on training how to leave a building safely in case of a fire.
Instead of a real fire, though, it’s a simulated situation that makes a situation of fire and helps folks to practice evacuating.
The main goal of a FED is to educate people on what they should do if there’s a fire. In fact, it teaches a few essential techniques like REACT, RACE, or PASS in fire safety.
During a fire drill trail, the fire alarm goes off, just like it would in a real fire. Folks then need to find the closest exits or doors as if it were a real emergency. This makes them feel like they’re in a real situation, so they can learn how to react and stay safe.
It’s important to know that fire drills can be different depending on the type of building. For example, in tall buildings, it may take more time to reach the exits, so the fire drill procedure might be a bit more involved.
How Often Should Fire Drills Be Practiced?
After learning what FED stands for in fire training, it becomes essential to know its frequency. Let me share the guidelines on how many times should you train the fire drills below:
- Conduct it every 2 months for tall buildings.
- Try it 3 months per year for a laboratory.
- For a school, do it 3 times per year.
- Do it every month for daycare centers, healthcare, or similar areas.
- Every 12 months, try it for all other occupancies.
What Are the Types of Fire Evacuation Drills?
In most cases, there are two kinds of FED based on the simulation process. These are role-playing(with advanced notice) and live drills(without advance notice).
1. Role-Playing Drills
This kind of drill gives a facility to teach staff about the roles of the evacuation manager (yellow jacket persons) and the assembly point manager (orange jacket persons) before doing the drill. Via this, one can understand the staff’s knowledge of the FED concept better.
In the role-playing drills, all staff are informed of the type of event and date beforehand. To create this kind of drill, people stay in a room and act out where staff is informed in advance via email or notices posted in specific areas.
The role-playing drills are suggested to use if the staff has been moved or when the building has new decor.
2. Live Drills
The live drills offer a facility to detect whether the rules of using jackets is a well-rehearsed process in evacuations or not. In this kind of drill, no one knows the date and time of the drill in advance.
Through this kind of drill, one can understand if the staff shows good reaction and readiness in real events or not.
For that, it is possible to make use of special tools like smoke, alarms, actors, visual injuries, and so on. The live drills are a lot more realistic and authentic than any evacuation process.
Improvements in FED Stand Fire Safety!
Now that it’s clear what FED stands for and its policies, it’s the right time to understand the factors that need to be improved. Here are some details:
- Fire alarm street boxes should be near around 100 feet or 30 meters from the front of a building.
- Need better control of waste disposal, storage of combustible supplies, and inspections.
- Perform the fire drill regularly based on the suggested period.
- Ensure that all the fire alarms and warnings are working. Also, inform everyone about the exits in schools so that all students can evacuate.
- All teachers should work like a leader and know the fire safety rules to take charge of the situation.
What Should I Include in a Fire Evacuation Plan?
There are a few essential things that you must include in a fire escape or evacuation plan. Based on what you have, add these:
- Make sure you have a large and clear exit so that all folks can escape.
- Use a green board with an exit sign to indicate the escape route so that anyone can find the spot by following the given signs. Be sure it’s short and highlighted that grabs attention.
- Add exit or emergency doors that are easy to open or close.
- If needed, add lighting on the exit sign board so that all can find it easily.
- Ensure to give proper training to all people so that they know and use the escape routes.
- Set up a safe meeting point or spot for all staff so that they can gather.
5 Steps Included in a Fire Evacuation Drill!
If you are wondering about the FED training process, it requires some work to be done. Let me explain it in steps:
Step 1: Preparation
Start by contacting a few organizations to inform them about the fire drill and set it up perfectly. For that, call the fire alarm monitoring company or Regional Emergency Services (RES) to suggest the following FED event.
Be sure to give them information about the site and timeline to conduct the fire drill properly. Then, set up the alarm box, fire extinguisher, and exits with a highlighted sign on the left or right side.
Step 2: Train All Individuals
After notifying the organizations, it’s time to inform everyone about the things that need to be done in fire incidents. For that, follow the given directions:
- Call the fire team on board and then confirm that they know the fire evacuation process. Then, give them the map of the location where the fire drill will be performed.
- Make a small meeting and inform all individuals about the fire drill and fire safety plans so they know what to do on the trail.
- Plan for the fire drill and make sure it isn’t longer than 7 – 10 minutes.
- Practice the fire drill a few times with all the people in the building so they know what things to consider practically.
Step 3: Begin the Fire Drill
Next, start the fire drill by accessing the manual pull station or pressing the Fire Drill button in the fire alarm (if it contains this feature).
Step 4: Record and Check the Performance
No matter what place it is, there are some terms that you need to inspect in the fire drills. Here are a few things that need to be checked and recorded:
- Were all folks closing the doors when leaving the existing rooms?
- Did they seem calm and able to proceed to the closest exit?
- Did all individuals gather at the designated muster point?
- Were the fire wardens ensuring the evacuation of all folks?
- Were all folks accounted for?
- Were the guards preventing people from re-entering the building?
- Were people getting a clear notification (like Code RED All Clear) to re-enter the building?
When you are writing the fire drill report on paper, be sure to make it look neat and clean. Plus, mention the time, date, weather conditions, number of individuals, the total period of a fire drill, and so on.
Step 5: Inspect the Record
After that fire drill trial, the team needs to do a few things and give the result or report. Here’s what you need to do:
- Note the evacuation time in the checklist report of all people.
- Turn off the alarms and reset the manual pull station. If needed, a new alarm system if the previous one seems problematic.
- Alert people to get inside the building.
- Tell the fire alarm monitoring company and RES line to advise that the fire drill is done.
- Take actions where needed that seem concerning during the fire drills. Also, find and discuss the problems that need improvement.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. What does FED stand for?
The FED stands for safety Fire Evacuation Drill, also known as a fire drill.
2. How do abbreviate “Fire evacuation drills”?
To abbreviate or make it shorter to use in daily life, you can call it fire drills or FEDs. It indicates the same meaning.
3. What is the maximum time for a fire drill evacuation?
Most of the fire drill trail’s duration is around 5 – 10 minutes. However, sometimes they can take around 15 minutes.
Wrap Up
FED or Fire evacuation drill is a vital thing that all should perform. Thanks to this, people can react well in the case of a fire incident. Hope you find this guide helpful to know what FED stands for in fire safety, its type, frequency, process, and other details. See You Again!
