Fire drills in Korea

This past week our school had a fire drill. It was the most interesting and bizarre thing I've ever experienced. But by the end, I was convinced that we need to start replicating Korean fire drills in the States. It all started at 9:50am. The alarm rang, and my co-teacher and I quietly left our classroom.

Extinguishing the demo fire

The fire extinguishers 

My co workers attempting to light the box of wood. The lady in blue is my vice principal. 

We proceeded to merge with a vast column of departing students, who were all crouching low to the ground with handkerchiefs placed over their mouths. A few girls were giggling, but the majority of students took this drill seriously. All of us exited the front of the building and poured onto the sports field. After all students and teachers assembled on the field, two teachers carried a girl on a stretcher out of the building, to demonstrate the procedure if someone got hurt. 

The homeroom teachers took their classes to the back of the field, and lined up in orderly fashion, children still low to the ground. I understood now why there was a need for handkerchiefs, because red smoke was pouring out of the first floor windows. They had replicated fire smoke, because it certainly smelled like something was burning. A fire truck pulled onto the field to oversee the drill. My co-teacher, and another homeroom teacher lit a can containing wood and paper on fire. 

It took a few minutes to light up, and the fireman came and assisted them, but eventually the can was burning nicely, and after a few brief words from the principal, my co-teacher and the homeroom teacher proceeded to demonstrate how to use a fire extinguisher. After that the fire-department illustrated how to spray the field and the surrounding trees with water from a fire hydrant, to prevent flames from the burning building spreading. The drill ended at 10:10, after twenty minutes, and the teachers led their classes into the building once more to resume classes. 

When I think back to the fire drills at college, it's almost laughable. Because we knew it was only a test, when that alarm rang, my roommate and I would calmly put on our jackets, turn off the TV,  and stroll outside. I remember some people would finish their showers, or change from their PJs into regular street clothes, depending on the time of day. We definitely did not take the fire drills seriously. Because we never actually had a fire, this was not a problem. However, I think in the case of a real fire, we would have panicked. I admire the way the Korean system requires schools to perform at least two of these very detailed fire drills a year. After observing the drill last week, I think there would be a lot less panic in the case of a real fire. Maybe we need to start thinking of adopting such a system. 

In the back you see the children sitting on the ground, and in the middle one of the homeroom teachers is trying to light a can of paper.