Testing: students leave their rooms for a fire alarm last night
What does the typical Portsmouth Uni student do at 11pm? Get out of bed? Have their high-protein breakfast? Do some late-night stretching? Head to the gym? Start frying a snack? Log on to Moodle? The possibilities are intriguing.
Last night at 11pm, however, it was all laid bare to see. The good students of Margaret Rule Hall and Chaucer – yes, the light blue rectangle block near Tesco (that straddles the main road like a giant inscrutable matrix) – were plunged out into the cold night as the fire alarms went off.
They tumbled out, blinking at the cold, in a variety of outfits. At 11pm on the dot. That’s PM, in the evening, NOT the morning when test alarms normally happen.
All of my flatmates were out of their rooms wondering what was happening. One of
them was even in the middle of cooking a "late-night snack" and was seized with the drastic thought that he had accidentally started it.
Unite Students, our trusted landlord, usually runs tests every Tuesday at 10:30am to check if the safety devices are working properly. We are used to this weekly routine. It’s been no different since the beginning of the year. We know when to expect it.
But – just to catch us out – I was on the phone last night when the alarms went off and was very surprised, possibly a bit alarmed (?!). I quickly went downstairs to see what was happening and if there was an actual incident.
The staff confirmed, however, that it was just a test. I was lucky enough to come across Bobby Ullah, the Students Safety Team Leader of Unite Students in Portsmouth.
He calmed my fears in the best way possible and told me that they do random testings once every three months.
They check if the staff know what to do in an evacuation and if students take the training seriously.
Thankfully, all of them contributed to the evacuation training and seem to be educated on what needs to be done in such cases.
Trooping back into our rooms, it was all ok.
Some advice from Hampshire Fire Service:
never leave cooking unattended
remember to clean your grill, hob and oven regularly. A build-up of grease and fat can catch fire whilst cooking
Try to avoid cooking if you have been drinking as alcohol can distract your concentration.
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