I just experienced my first fire drill in Taiwan. I have done many before in the U.S. and some in Germany. But this one was the weirdest.
It began with our secretary telling me this morning that there will be a fire drill at 13:30, and that I should come to her office, so she can take me to our designated waiting area. I thought weird, why do they announce the drill in advance.
Well, it was about 13:30, no alarm sounded yet, but I heard many people on the hallway leaving the building. I thought I might have missed the alarm, so I asked the secretary but she was puzzled herself. So I went back to my office. 2 minutes later, still no alarm, but the secretary came to pick me up to go outside. Another 2 minutes later, we were standing outside waiting with more than 80% of the other employees. After another 2 minutes, the rest of our group arrived, telling us, that there was finally an alarm.
Well, what kind of drill was that? They announce it in advance, so those who need a break have a chance to leave early. They wait until large portion of the employees are outside before they finally decide to sound the alarm. :loco: :loco:
For some reason, I don’t feel that save here, and the leak in my office window frame does not add to that feeling either. I just hope that there will never be a fire here, or at least, that they announce the fire a couple of days in advance. But on the other hand, what good does a fire drill do anyway, when people just walk outside, like they would any other time. I just read a couple of days ago, that they were able to evacuate the Airbus A380 within 80 sec. That are how many people? 600? 700? Anyway, that was way faster than our fire drill today.
Hehe. We had a similar fire drill last year. The funniest thing was that we weren’t allowed to go out through the emergency escape doors (which are alarmed), so there was a real bottleneck at the exits.
[quote=“irishstu”]Hehe. We had a similar fire drill last year. The funniest thing was that we weren’t allowed to go out through the emergency escape doors (which are alarmed), so there was a real bottleneck at the exits.
Seemed very ironic.[/quote]
You raised a good issue, we did not go out of the emergency exits either. Altough, since everybody went out on their own leisure, there was no pile up at the exits.
Back in the US, we did not even have to leave the building. Just had to wait in the hallway connecting two buildings. But I guess the nearest exit was right there.
In my experience, people here generally don’t even bother to leave the building when an alarm goes off, on the assumption that it’s a drill and a waste of time. Buddha help us if there’s ever a real fire!
LOL…funny stories.
I happened to ask my wife about “Fire Drills” at her work place last year.
Shes worked with her company for 15 yrs, I thought just maybe they might have had one had one.
Well, after explaining to her what a “Fire Drill” was and what is was for, she said “No, we have never done anything like that. We don’t have to.”
Me: “You don’t have to? What if there is a fire?”
Her: “Everybody goes home”
Me: “But if there is a fire, how will you make sure everybody gets out”
Her: “Somebody will call them”
Me: “HUH? When?”
Her “The next day”
Me: “What? What if they don’t get out?”
Her: “They will call us”
Me: "Honey, its a “Fire” “Drill”…Its a practice for a fire emergency.
Her: “Nope…we never have those”
That is exactly what I was also wondering about. How many places actually do excerise the fire drill. As this is a national health institute, I figured they have to be a good example. But does everybody elses company do fire drills.
I guess in Germany it was not very popular either, but my memory is fading. So don’t quote me on that. At least I have never done as many fire drills as in the U.S.A. maybe every 2 or 3 months there was one.
TC: Very funny story, indeed. Has anybody else similar experiences?
Once in my school (A very well known one) in Kaohsiung the fire alarm went off. The boss phoned security to turn it off. No one was evacuated and no one took any notice of it except for the fact that it was noisy.
No one for an instant thought it could possibly be a fire.
[quote=“Dangermouse”]Once in my school (A very well known one) in Kaohsiung the fire alarm went off. The boss phoned security to turn it off. No one was evacuated and no one took any notice of it except for the fact that it was noisy.
No one for an instant thought it could possibly be a fire.[/quote]
Did they teach you how to put a plastic bag over your head if you see smoke? That’s what kids are taught to do when there’s a fire here. No, it’s true.
[quote=“bobepine”]Did they teach you how to put a plastic bag over your head if you see smoke? That’s what kids are taught to do when there’s a fire here. No, it’s true.
bobepine[/quote]
That’s the best story I have heard so far. Makes we wonder why scooter riders don’t wear plastic bags instead of those surgical masks.
Is that a real picture or a joke picture? The bags that kids were instructed to use where I saw a demonstration were just regular plastic bags. I posted about this a while back. The same Firemen who demonstrated this practice also took all the students outside and light diesel in a big pan to show the kids how they use their equipment. The chief somehow light himself on fire in the process and one of the foreign teachers was the quickest to grab the hose and blast him with it. No jokes.
My current principal is really good about having fire drills in our school…and it’s a good thing too because last year at the end of the spring semester, we really did have a fire when an air conditioning unit shorted in the ceiling of a classroom. The kids knew exactly what to do and everyone stayed calm as we evacuated the school…
The fire department which didn’t show up for another 30 minutes after they were called, however, are another story.
The principal had to put out the fire by herself and then wait for them to show up.
Buddha help us if there’s ever a real fire! 
