The status quo of fire evacuation drills in nursery schools

TL;DR

This study analyzes fire evacuation drills in Czech nursery schools, highlighting the importance of frequent drills and tailored safety programs for preschool children to improve evacuation efficiency and safety.

Contribution

It provides empirical data on current practices and offers recommendations for enhancing fire drill effectiveness in early childhood education settings.

Findings

More frequent fire drills reduce evacuation issues.

Children on ground floors face fewer evacuation problems.

Regular drills and tailored programs improve safety outcomes.

Abstract

Fire drills are a commonly-used training method for improving how people act in emergency situations. This article deals with fire drills in early childhood education facilities and analyses data gathered from an online survey of 1151 Czech nursery schools (23.5% of nursery schools invited to participate, 21.5% of all officially registered nursery schools in Czechia). It provides recommendations for improving the effectiveness of fire drills in nursery schools. Results suggest that regular (typically annual) fire drills are common training practices at these schools, but more frequent fire drills led to significantly fewer issues during evacuation. The most frequent evacuation issue encountered during fire drills, according to our data, was slow movement. Many children needed assistance, notably on stairs; nursery schools located only on the ground floor reported fewer issues during evacuation than other schools. The purpose, design, and implementation of fire drills with our study confirming results from prior studies must be properly integrated into complex and systematic fire safety education programs that specifically reflect the characteristics, needs, and possible limitations of preschool children.