You have to laugh....

Slosh

You can complete the saying.

We had a fire drill at work today. My new office is on the top floor of a Victorian School and there are a LOT of stairs to the ground floor.

After dutifully waiting for all the children to exit I slowly made my way downstairs with a colleage acting as an escort and the deputy following behind. I would have loved to stop for a rest halfway down but managed to keep going.

When I finally made it out into the playground another colleague got a chair for me to sit on while we waited to be allowed in again.

Unfortunately it was a small infants chair so when we did get the all clear I had to be pulled up to my feet!

We are now looking into the possibility of an evacue chair, (can't spell)!

theresak

You'll have to borrow James Bond's ejector chair, Slosh! I can't cope with the little infants' chairs - a few years of watching infants' Nativity plays made me dread them.

dibdab

Oh Slosh, I'm feeling your pain......30 years of teaching Early Years/KS1 took a toll on my joints :shock: . Is there no way of having your office relocated to a lower floor? Surely DDA compliance should be taken into account when locating your main work area. Not sure what an evacuee chair is..........would that entail others physically carrying you downstairs, and is that a safe plan in the event of a real fire?

Hope you get chance to rest and recover over the weekend.....I used to hate fire drills, particularly in the cooler months, and we had to gather on a grassed area so ended up with cold wet feet for the rest of the day.

Deb xx

Slosh

It's not usually a problem as there is lift access to all floors, but of course you can't use the lift if it's a fire alarm.

Yes it is one of those carry down chairs, we had once before for a disabled child and I know the fire brigade were involved in providing it and training staff.

Oh the joys!

daffy2

the fire brigade were involved

Pity you can't have your own fireman on standby...

dreamdaisy

Firstly, well done on coping and descending safely - that must have been hard work. Secondly, well done on taking the chair - I dread seats where my hips end up lower than my knees and for good reason! Thirdly, I guess these are once-a-term exercises so hopefully that's it for a few weeks. I hope you won't be too achy over the weekend.

Good luck with the next one, hopefully the proper 'kit' will be in place by then. DD

hileena111

Hi
That's a good idea
Your own personal fireman
Give you a firemans lift down those stairs

Love
Hileena

Slosh

I like the idea of my own personal fireman, as long as I get to pick!

frogmorton

Oh Slosh!

you couldn't make it up could you?

I think your classroom ought to be on ground floor if possible and I rather like the idea of your own personal firefighter too

Very well-done anyway.

Love

Toni xxx

LignumVitae

Blimey that sounds a trial. On a serious note is there no way you could be relocated on the lower floor and preferably the bottom floor and near a door? That would be safest all around.

Slosh

Unfortunately there is no way of moving my base and the bonus is that I am on the same floor as most of the classrooms. Last year was similar but I was on the middle floor.

I have forwarded my concerns to the appropriate member of staff, however my safety is being taken seriously as the head told me he had made sure the drill was on a day I worked in order to make sure I could get out.

stickywicket

daffy2 wrote:

Pity you can't have your own fireman on standby...

I think, for Health & Safety reasons plus Disabled Access plus, I'm sure, lots of other reasons we could come up with this is essential. I'm not sure if, in an actual fire, you'd be over-concerned about choosing your own but, hey, if you can have one on standby, go for it.

Well done on managing the whole kerfuffle, Slosh. These are the awkward 'extras' we could all do without. How are things now? Any payback?

Slosh

I was knocked sideways so to speak for the rest of Friday, most bizarrely not in a lot more pain than usual on a work day but real brain fog...not good for teaching so my afternoon groups got to try out my new reading games!

Struggling now, neck very painful and walking really not great which again is a bit of a surprise as I've been sitting down most of today doing my craft stall.

Duvet day tomorrow I'm thinking.

Starburst

Oy, that sounds stressful, to say the least! Rest up today.

Do you have a PEEP (personal emergency evacuation plan)? This should be reviewed annually.