Fire drill held at Shanghai NYU in bid to teach students and staff safety skills
A fire drill was held at Shanghai New York University on Thursday with the participation of all of the university’s students, teachers and other staff members.
When a fire alarm rang at about 12:50, everyone in the building was told over the intercom to descend via fire escape passages and avoid using elevators, and an aerial ladder was used to take a fake person down from the fifth floor.
Students at the university were given the opportunity to ride the aerial ladder.
On campus, some booths were set up to introduce fire escape knowledge to participants of the drill, and students were taught how to use fire extinguishers.
Xia Weiguo, an engineer from Lujiazui Fire Fighters’ Brigade, which covers Shanghai NYU, said the main purpose of the drill was to help staff and students get familiar with fire escape passages in the building and learn basic firefighting skills.
“Having basic firefighting knowledge is very important in reducing unnecessary casualties in fire cases because in most fire cases, professional firefighters don’t need to be summoned to the scene,” Xia said.
Chen Yuqi, a police officer from Weifang Xincun Police Station, which also covers the university, said police are working with English-speaking staff at the area’s Foreigners Service Station to distribute leaflets about fire control and fire escape knowledge in Chinese and English for expats living there.
Chen said there are about 8,000 expats living in the area, a number of whom reside in high-rise residential buildings.
