Sunday, December 26, 2010

Dubai Silicon Oasis Conducts Successful Fire Evacuation Drill; Held in collaboration with Dubai Civil Defense, Dubai Police, and the Ambulance Department

Dubai-UAE: 26th December, 2010 –Dubai Silicon Oasis (DSO), the integrated free zone technology park, today conducted a fire and evacuation drill in collaboration with Dubai Civil Defense, Dubai Police, and the Ambulance Department to assess the response time of the safety and security teams in emergency situations.

The exercise aimed to assess DSO’s emergency plans and the preparedness of the control and command teams. It also evaluated the coordination and quality of communication between the concerned parties, inspected field operations, and assessed the arrival time of the rescue authorities. DSO’s fire warden’s promptness in responding to fire alarms in the DSO headquarters in a first-of-its-kind operation was also under review.
The drill, which started around 09:00am on 26 December lasted for over three hours and included the participation of more than 2,000 tenants and DSO employees. Fire wardens and First Aid employees helped tenants and DSO staff reach the assembly points to ensure a smooth and safe evacuation. The authority had 10 volunteers role-playing as injured victims that were carried out of the building on stretchers and ambulances.
Eng. Khalil Al Shalan, Vice President of Operations & Facilities said: “As part of DSO’s plan to ensure the security and safety of its tenants and employees, the fire drill aimed to reinforce the internal safety procedures within the property. It also facilitated the training of our staff in fire prevention, evacuation, fire safety, the use of fire extinguishers and first aid.”


“The exercise revealed the tremendous effort and quick response on site from the Dubai Civil Defense, the firefighting team, the ambulance department and the Dubai Police team.”
A fire drill is a method of practicing the evacuation of a building in the eventuality of a fire or other emergency. In such an exercise, the emergency system (usually an alarm) is activated and the building is evacuated as though a real fire has occurred. Usually, the time it takes to evacuate the premises is measured to ensure the rescue process occurs within a reasonable length of time.
Colonel Saleh Humaid Al Rahoomi, Director of Al Rashidya Police station, said: “During a fire, there is no time to stop and think about an escape route. Seconds are important! Knowing what to do before a disaster occurs can save the life of many citizens. Our role is to support Dubai Civil Defense during the fire drills. The fire drill at DSO aimed to expose the community to the important procedures that need to be followed in the event of an emergency. The fire warden’s response to fire alarms at the DSO headquarters was very impressive.”
1st Lieutenant, Saif Mohammad Saif, Deputy Director of Al Rashidya Civil Defense Station, said: “We are impressed with the security and safety measures adopted by Dubai Silicon Oasis. The employees and the tenants extended full collaboration with our team, which made this exercise a great success. The drill is a part of our annual plan for emergency exercises. Although preparing for the unexpected is difficult, conducting fire drills and implementing the evacuation plan is important as it leads to the saving of lives.”
“We invest time in planning and training employees to cope with fires as we believe that preparing ahead of time enables them to act quickly and calmly when faced with an emergency situation.  Preparation is important when dealing with an emergency and it is vital that steps are taken to groom every person within a community for such unexpected catastrophes.”
Dubai Silicon Oasis is a wholly-owned entity of the Government of Dubai and operates as a free zone for semiconductor, microelectronic and other high technology-based companies looking to set up their regional headquarters and research and development (R&D) facilities in the Middle East and Africa region.

About Dubai Silicon Oasis
Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority (DSOA), a 100% owned entity by the Government of Dubai is a free zone, strategically placed on the Emirates road. DSOA’s urban master-planned community spans 7.2 square kilometres of state of the art office towers, R&D and industrial zones, educational institutions, luxury apartments, villas, hotels, healthcare and a full range of lifestyle facilities which translate into a dynamic commercial and social environment. Businesses can flourish under the unrivalled package of incentives, including 100% ownership, and high end IT infrastructure that allows companies to begin operating immediately. Visit us at www.dso.ae  

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