Preparedness for when

GreyQueen

Goldiegirl wrote: »

That is very interesting information - I hope never to meet Mr Sands, but hearing that would now certainly put me on the alert.

Puts me in mind of the other enclosed place that I like to frequent - a Cruise ship.

I always sail with P&O and they have the safety musters before sailing. All passengers have to attend in a public room that they have been allocated, to hear the briefing and to practice putting on your life jacket. The crew are regularly drilled and tested, especially since the Costa Concordia incident, but in a real emergency, I do wonder what would happen. The passengers are often quite elderly and have trouble finding their way around the ship at the best of time, let alone in the stress and panic of an emergency. Hopefully I'll never have to deal with it for real.

I was very glad that I never had to announce Mr Sands was in the building across the Tannoy in our theatre.

We had firedoors, extinguishers, scenery etc had to be treated in a certain way, there were fire exits and strict regulations had to be complied with. Fire safety officers could turn up unannounced at any time, and could and would close us down that minute if there were any violations of the rules.

And quite rightly so. Fire isn't something to take lightly. I had discussions with fire safety officers and they explained what fire would do, in certain parts of the theatre, and that fire-doors etc would be buying us seconds to escape and nothing more, in the worst-case scenarios.

Re cruise ships, I would have concerns about catching noro or something like that, more than the vessel itself capsizing, but I do agree with the risk of having a lot of elderly people in such a situation. If you got wet either getting into a lifeboat, or after getting in one, you'd be at real risk of death from exposure.

I recall reading an account, think it was in The Observer, in the past few years. It was somewhere in Scandinavia, a ferry capsize I think, and the vessel listed sharply before sliding the terrified passengers into the sea. The survivor was in a life raft which had actually capsized and he and others got back into it, but were soaked, shocky, in freezing water and had to wait hours for rescue.

He described how he kept trying to keep a young woman alive but she slipped away and died of exposure there on the raft. It was very sad.

One thing I picked up from FerFAL's blog was his comment that in the economic breakdown of Argentina, there was a dramatic increase in crime inc bank robberies and some people were shot when they got caught up as innocent bystanders in businesses being robbed, and some others were so traumatised by the experience that they had fatal heart-attacks at the scene.

I hope none of us have theatre roofs come in on us, or our cruise ships capsize or whatever, but I think it's worth remembering that once the rubble has stopped bouncing, you aren't yet completely safe. We need to keep an eye on each other, to look for symtoms of shock, possible heart attacks/ severe asthma attacks.

I read something somewhere to the effect that you haven't survived a disaster until you've either got yourself out, or been taken by others, to a place of safety.

Today will be about what passes for Normal Life on my personal planet and maybe a trip to the lottie and dropping in on a pal. I do have to do a little bit of food shopping but was planning to treat it like a raid; dive into the nearest store and scarper back out again.

:eek: The last Saturday before Crimble. It'll be busy, folks, take it easy out there and remember to sharpen your elbows before leaving home.

mardatha

It's unbelievably dark here, pelting heavy rain and I can hardly see the other end of the livingroom. And just to add further cheer, lookat this :eek:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2013/12/20/wicked-storm-may-threaten-united-kingdom-approaching-christmas-eve/

short_bird

It may not be too bad this morning... if some people have had their usual Friday Before Christmas festivities, they may still be in bed at this time of day and won't be shopping till later this afternoon.

Unless they all went home to avoid hypothermia due to last night's wind and rain, in which case all bets are off.

As I am off for lunch with some former colleagues, I'll send you dispatches when I return. A certain TV chef's restaurant, next to a major shopping centre, the Saturday before Christmas. What could possibly go wrong :rotfl:

Oh, I forgot to mention: route there is either through the City Centre main shopping streets or a station in the throes of rebuilding.:eek:

GreyQueen

mardatha wrote: »

It's unbelievably dark here, pelting heavy rain and I can hardly see the other end of the livingroom. And just to add further cheer, lookat this :eek:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2013/12/20/wicked-storm-may-threaten-united-kingdom-approaching-christmas-eve/

:eek: And I'm travelling on that day. Glad it's not far.

It's flat grey here with only a slight breeze. Am about to get off my beam end and cleaned up and hit the streets.

Short_bird, yes, you're right about getting out early, it was the same last Saturday when headed into the shopping streets before 10 am and you had plenty of room, an hour later and it was another story altogether. By the time it gets really bad, I shall be grubbling around in the feral strawberry bed. Gardening is so much more relaxed than shopping.

Enjoy your lunch out and here's hoping not too bad with the crowds.

:mad: Oh, and did you know that Nat Exp coaches jack their prices up in December? They put one stage of price increase in from 06/12 and another stage in on 20/12. Just taking advantage of people. As told to me by the tourist info; I'm paying only £1.10 less for a single than I normally pay for a return over the same journey.

Barstewards. Still, a lot cheaper than running a car. Laters, GQ xx.

melodramaticme

On the "Mr Sands" question, the fire safety precautions in the wings used to be one bucket of water and one of sand hung near to the flying ropes. That was in a community theatre where I used to perform in amateur drama. So I think it may have originated in the use of sand as a fire extinguisher.

Hard_Up_Hester

I always assumed that 'Mr Sands' was used as fire buckets were full of sand.
Working for a school we have a fire alarm, regular fire drills & regular false alarms because little Ryan didn't want to go to his maths lesson as he hadn't done his homework so he elbowed the fire pad!
We also have a lock down alarm for if we get an armed intruder on side, this sounds different to the fire alarm, if this sounds we are all to lock ourselves into or rooms until some one comes round and says 'Dr Who requests the pleasure of the next dance'. This was the code in 2010, it's been changed since. The main problem with this is that I cannot lock myself in my room as it would be a fire risk, oh good so I can get stabbed or shot, but at least I won't burn.
Hester

pineapple

GreyQueen wrote: »

A chance conversation a few weeks ago with a shopkeeper pal, drew my mind to something I haven't even thought of for years; mid week day/ half day closing.

Can you imagine, if you're under thirty; shops used to routinely close for half a day midweek. And they sometimes closed half-way thru a Saturday. And weren't open on Sundays at all.

I can't help feeling we've lost more than we gained in this 24 hour convenience society. I sort of miss the times when days were marked by distinct differences. And I don't have a religious bone in my body! The week now is acquiring the sort of sameness that is overtaking our town centres.
To those who say 'well you don't have to go shopping' - well that's not the point. It's amazing to think how we coped in those dark days when 24hr opening was unknown, when some shops might be closed a whole day - maybe a half day too!:eek: and we weren't welded to our 'puters in the early hours buying up Amazon :rotfl:

Goldiegirl

GreyQueen wrote: »

Re cruise ships, I would have concerns about catching noro or something like that, more than the vessel itself capsizing,.

It's much more likely to catch something like noro or flu - in fact it happens to me with regularity


When you board a cruise ship, you have to complete a health questionnaire, to confirm you've had no noro or flu like symptoms within the previous few days.


But I think people routinely lie on these questionnaires.


I don't think it's a coincidence that within two days of boarding my September cruise I had a cold, and last Saturday we did a day visit to a ship, and by Monday I had started to get a cold. A bloke actually sneezed on me Saturday, so I'm fairly sure that's the moment I was infected!


Fortunately I've never contracted the noro -I am very careful with hand washing etc, but even that is no guarantee.


On the subject of fire in public places - on the Sky News ticker they are saying there's a fire at Chessington World of Adventure - don't know anything more than that at present

pumpkinlife

pineapple wrote: »

I can't help feeling we've lost more than we gained in this 24 hour convenience society. I sort of miss the times when days were marked by distinct differences. And I don't have a religious bone in my body! The week now is acquiring the sort of sameness that is overtaking our town centres.
To those who say 'well; you don't have to go shopping' - well that's not the point. It's amazing to think how we coped in those dark days when 24hr opening was unknown, when some shops might be closed a whole day - maybe a half day too!:eek: and we weren't welded to our 'puters in the early hours buying up Amazon :rotfl:

Have to admit I never envisioned doing a job that is staffed 24/7. Shift work completely screws up daily rhythms. I am expected to work weekends and christmas etc which is understandable as I work for an essential service. But all those poor folks working retail on boxing day? And black Friday? Sheesh, us brits just got the shopping con binge, not even the lovely thanksgiving celebration the day before.

I am not religious, so have no calendar or rituals to follow. Paying attention to what the seasons are doing and marking the solstices and equinoxes has been good practice for me ( and I can usually get those days off work). Incidentally, a few years ago it was generally accepted that you would get some recompense for working antisocial hours. Now it seems that it is considered just another day...no rest for the wicked.

mardatha

Winter Solstice today I think - shortest day, then the world turns back to the sun