A warm welcome
I was welcomed by the receptionist, a resident who thought I was from Strictly Come Dancing, and a cat. The cat definitely wasn’t on the staff rota, but it clearly runs the place.
Setting up
I set up my laptop and projector after the usual five-minute battle with the HDMI cable. It only works if you hold your breath and whisper, “Please, just this once.”
The team shuffled in with tea, biscuits and hopeful looks that said “Will this be a fun training?”
Spoiler: yes.
The serious bits of fire marshal training in a care home
Fire safety in a care home is serious. The people you support may not be able to get out on their own, so every minute counts. We covered:
- Fire prevention: spotting the risks before they become a fire
- Evacuation procedures: what happens, in what order, and who does what
- Fire doors: why you check them, even when they look boring, and why you never prop them open. Not even with a plant pot called Doris.
Let’s talk about PEEPs
Next came the PEEP talk. A Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan sets out how each person will be helped out of the building if there’s a fire.
Cue someone asking whether Barry needed one, or whether he’d just sprint out with the toaster under one arm again.
The laughter helped, but the point landed. In a care home, PEEPs need to be up to date, and everyone on shift needs to know what’s in them.
Who does what
We talked through the real responsibilities in a fire:
- Who checks the building
- Who calls 999
- Who panics and just makes tea (spoiler: that’s not in the plan)
We also touched on CQC, because nothing gets the adrenaline going like the words “unannounced inspection.” Good fire safety records and trained fire marshals are part of showing your service is safe.
A win
By the end of the day we’d laughed, learned, and the team felt more confident about their fire safety role.
Nobody set anything off. The only smoke came from the tea urn having a moment. I’ll take that as a win.
Until next time: stay safe, shut those fire doors, and don’t give Doris the plant pot any more responsibility.
