There are plenty of friendly reminders now that school is back in session. In fact, now that there are lots of kiddos getting off and on buses, neighborhood watch groups and local news channels alike offer reminders about bus safety regulations and the importance of paying close attention to the area school zones. Many adults focus on reminding teens and adult drivers alike to be aware of the speed limits and children getting off the bus. In fact, in some areas there are parents who are not opposed to flagging someone down driving who is driving too fast in neighborhoods, especially with schools nearby.
Unfortunately, there are too many people around who seem to think speed limits are mere suggestions, and not very serious ones at that. So timely reminders that when the stop sign is out on the bus this is an indicator that the driver is either picking up or dropping off children. No one should pass at this time.
Once the children arrive safely to school, however, there are still important safety procedures to be followed. Every child who has been to school before, for instance, knows that the first few weeks of school will not only involve academics and discussions of classroom procedures, but also practice fire, evacuation and safety drills. The best and newest fire sprinkler services play important roles in the safety of any building, but children need to be reminded about how to exit a building immediately and safely should an alarm be sounded.
Keeping Children Safe at School Can be a Complicated Process
Fire protection companies and the fire sprinkler services that they provide have long been a part of the opening or any school year. Today, however, educators and administrators alike are also dealing with how to keep children safe in other kinds of dangerous situations as well. From active shooter drills to when it makes more sense to run away from a building, the drills that some children have to practice are downright frightening.
Indeed, fire sprinkler services and standard school fire drills can seem mundane when it comes to talking about how to protect children in a time when school shootings are becoming more common. The fact of the matter remains, however, that even though the news can make these tragedies seem more common then they really are, there is still a greater chance of fire sprinkler services and fire exit drill procedures saving lives than the information that is shared during an active shooter drill.
Outside of the school setting, consider some of these facts and figures about the many ways that fire sprinkler installation services and other types of fire protection services protect persons and properties:
- Hotel and motel fires result in $76 million in property loss every year.
- Non-chemical suppression systems operate effectively 96% of the time in commercial areas with large oven ranges.
- Confined cooking fires alone account for 55% of medical facility fires.
- Apartments, hotels, offices, and facilities that care for the sick are the four property classes account for 50% of high-rise fires.
- Unfortunately, motel and hotel fires cause an estimated 15 deaths and 150 injuries every single year.
- The combination of automatic sprinklers and early warning systems in all buildings could reduce overall injuries, loss of life, and property damage by as much as 50%.
This is the time of year when there is a lot of focus on the safety of schools as children return to class. The fact of the matter is, however, that every building relies on various kinds of fire protection systems to remain as safe as possible. Knowing that local, state, and federal regulations mandate the kind of fire sprinkler systems that must be installed in large buildings like schools, hospitals, and hotels is an important step toward knowing that you and your loved ones will be safe in the event of a fire emergency. Now, the nation needs to continue to look for ways to make sure that other, sometimes more threatening dangers, are eliminated from public spaces.
We live in a time when the world can seem like a scary place, but it is important to realize that at least when it comes to fire there are many effective and well tested ways to help protect lives.