Sunday, February 04, 2007

In case of emergency

Something happened today which got me thinking. At about 6.00pm this evening, the fire alarm in our condo block went off. The alarm going off isn't that unusual as the system is rather sensitive. This time, there was smell of smoke! PT and I stayed calm and thought we had better get out of our building. PT went out on the landing to see what the situation was. I made sure Adam stayed close to me while I went to get our important documents and some valuables. Then we calmly walked down the stairs to another block for safety. One of our neighbours had just got home. She rushed upstairs to get her younger daughter and helper down. The fire department was called and they took more than 10 minutes to arrive. There wasn't any fire. It turned out that one of the neighbours upstairs from us were burning newspaper which triggered off the alarm. This incident raised a few questions in me:

1. Why the FUCK was the guy burning newspaper in an apartment block? What was he thinking that dumbass! The BOMBA officers and some neighbours went to the guy's apartment to tell him off. Let's hope he won't do it again.

2. Are my important documents within easy access if we need to grab and run? Even though I have made sure our documents are kept in a safe place, I didn't manage to take all of our important documents. I had missed out my children's birth certificates! Now I make sure all important documents are together, within grabbing reach.

3. Will our helper know what to do if there was really an emergency? The fact that my neighbour's helper stayed indoors with her younger daughter made me realise we need a plan of action in emergencies. That is most important as both PT and I may not be home if and when there is an emergency.

4. How fast can the Bomba respond to a fire emergency? Took them almost 15 minutes to get to us. By which time, if there was a fire, a lot of units would have been burned.

After the incident, I went through with my helper what to do in an emergency. However, she needs to remember that the children's safety and her safety are the most important of all. Documentation and valuables can be replaced. Human life... NOT.

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5 Comments:

Blogger Inner-Me said...

Hey Min,

After reading the 2nd paragraph, the 1st thing that came to my mind is that my important documents are WHERE!! So I better organised it somewhere so it can be within reached in case of emergencies! Good thinking Min!

11:40 pm  
Blogger Sasha Tan said...

WTF is wrong with that guy? Play Masak Masak in his house ka? so stupid wan!

11:24 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for the reminder Min! Ok going to put all my important documents together.

4:30 pm  
Blogger Babe_KL said...

Min, my parents have this one single bag in their wardrobe that has ALL important documents inside. we were drilled from young that in case of any emergency, we'll need to get this bag before we leave the house.

actually i kept our birth certs in the safe deposit box since we hardly use them. even insurance policies are in there. we keep photostated copies at home. the only important documents we have at home is our passports.

11:27 am  
Blogger Alliedmartster said...

Gd points Mama,
but here is what you may need to teach her too.
(Some weeks back, a toddler swallowed her pacifier and choked to death, the helper/babysitter tried to remove it the conventional way, openning the mouth and pulling on it)
Your helper may need to know (1)Basic first aid/scalding/broken arm/lecerations/CPR - this is alarmingly absent from minders/baby sitters
(2)Heimlich maneuver (for choking victims)
(3) CPR
This will help in any case of anyone requiring first aid.

9:33 am  

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