During their January 2023 visit to attend the annual Graduation Celebration, two of the visitors took time out to review the health & safety aspects of the two Kidshelp scholarship girls’ dormitories.
Each dormitory hosts up to 15 students. As with many residential homes in Phnom Penh, the girls park their motorcycles on the ground floor and live on the three floors above. For security they have metal gates that they lock once they are inside.
The review found each dormitory had one fire extinguisher but no instructions on how to use it, no smoke detector, no first aid box and while there was access from top (4th floor) to adjoining building, this is over time becoming more restricted as others become more security conscious.
So what has changed?
Each dormitory now has a fully stocked first aid box and whilst students are free to use contents when needed, they are required to replace what they use, when they are able. We are fortunate to have a medical student in each dormitory and they, together with the dormitory manager are responsible to do regular checks.
Each dormitory now has THREE smoke detectors, the location which was suggested by a trained fire officer. They are all located where they can be tested regularly, and the batteries replaced if necessary. Each dormitory also has FIVE wall mounted fire extinguishers together with pictorial and Khmer operating instructions.
The main sleeping areas in each dormitory has easy access to a balcony on the first floor but that has a railing that is 7m from the road level, far too high to jump in case of a fire. Fitting a fixed ladder would pose a risk because a passer-by might gain access by climbing up the ladder. In Europe many apartments have a flexible fire ladder that can be fixed to a window in event of a fire, but these appear not to be available in Cambodia and are in any event, not designed to be attached to a balcony rail.
We needed to think outside of the box. We purchased two 7m flexible fire ladders in UK abandoning the bulky brackets for fitting over a windowsill, and hand carried to Cambodia during our 2024 visit. Next was to talk to a local company that had made metal security guards for our dormitory and helped with purchasing and fitting the fire alarms and fire extinguishers and they created a maybe unique solution in Cambodia. Obviously extreme care will be required if there is an emergency requiring an escape from the first-floor balcony, but we know there is a safe way to escape.
Proving an escape can be done safely!
