China News Service, Beijing, June 17 (Reporter Shao Meng) On the morning of June 17, the National Fire and Rescue Bureau held a regular press conference to introduce the recent fire safety situation and key fire rescue tasks.
At the meeting, when talking about fire safety in nursing homes, Wang Tianrui, spokesperson of the National Fire and Rescue Bureau and deputy director of the Fire Supervision Department, emphasized that civil air defense is the key. "The elderly in nursing homes are a special group, and it is imperative to ensure immediate evacuation in case of emergency. This puts forward higher requirements for the fire-fighting quality of practitioners."
Wang Tianrui introduced that on February 2 this year, a fire broke out in a building shared by a hospital and a nursing home in Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang, killing five elderly people. After investigation, it was found that this was an arson case with profound lessons. There were 28 elderly people living on the floor where the fire broke out, but there were only two nursing staff, aged 53 and 63 respectively. The nursing staff had no ability to evacuate the 28 elderly people in the hospital. The unit also did not organize the evacuation of personnel, and no personnel entered the rooms of the elderly victims for rescue, which ultimately led to a catastrophe.
Different from the result, on April 2, a fire broke out in a building shared by a hospital and a nursing home in Bengbu City, Anhui Province, but none of the 58 disabled elderly people trapped at the scene was injured. Wang Tianrui said that the cause of the fire was a short circuit in the cable well of the hospital, and the thick smoke quickly spread to the floors of the nursing home. Faced with a sudden fire, nursing home staff showed high fire safety qualities.
According to reports, the director of the nursing home called the police immediately after confirming the fire. The 15 nursing staff present did not blindly evacuate the elderly through the thick smoke. Instead, they quickly evacuated the elderly to the shelter and organized inspections to prevent the elderly from being left alone or blindly escaping on their own. These nursing staff took care of the whole process. After the fire rescue personnel arrived at the scene, they quickly extinguished the fire, removed smoke and poison, and organized the evacuation in an orderly manner. In the end, all the trapped disabled elderly people successfully escaped.
"The two positive and negative cases in Bengbu, Anhui and Qiqihar, Heilongjiang fully illustrate the importance of strengthening fire protection training for employees in nursing homes." Wang Tianrui said.
The reporter learned at the press conference that the National Fire and Rescue Bureau and the Ministry of Civil Affairs have jointly deployed and carried out practical training on basic firefighting skills for employees in nursing homes across the country. Focusing on the goal of "early alarm, early response, and no loss of life", they focus on basic skills such as reporting fire alarms, operating fire extinguishers, using fire hydrants, wearing smoke masks, and organizing evacuation. The National Fire Rescue Bureau and the Ministry of Civil Affairs have promoted training for all personnel in charge of nursing homes, managers, nursing staff, security guards, and on-duty personnel, aiming to improve the fire safety level of nursing homes through practical training. (over)
