The Civil Defense General Department in Abu Dhabi executed a successful fire evacuation drill at the Shangri La Hotel – Qaryat Al Beri in Abu Dhabi.

Colonel Mohammed Abdullah Al Nuaimi, Acting Director General of Civil Defense, said: “The evacuation drill at the Shangri La Hotel was executed in cooperation with Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA). The drill comes under Abu Dhabi Civil Defense’s plan to raise the level of safety in tourist and hotel facilities. It is also considered to be a follow-up action related to safety and emergency plans in the hospitality sector and to the level of the sector’s preparations in case of emergencies.”

Al Nuaimi added: “In cooperation with the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority and concerned security departments, the Abu Dhabi Civil Defense executed 38 drills in hotels in the first quarter of the year, which represents 30% of the 132 hotels in Abu Dhabi. The Abu Dhabi Civil Defense is planning to cover the hotels’ sector in the entire emirate by the end of the current year.”

He continued: “The purpose of these evacuation drills is to examine safety and emergency plans of hotels, their preparations and readiness, in addition to the response plans of the civil defense, their accuracy and speed. These drills will help apply unified standards for safety and security in tourist facilities, and it will enhance communications between civil defense centers and the hotels’ safety and security personnel.”

He pointed out that through this cooperation between Abu Dhabi Civil Defense and Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, the level of emergency and safety plans has been evaluated, and the best five hotels will be selected and honored for their applied safety and emergency plans.

Nasser Saif Al Reyami, Tourism Standards Director, Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, said: “This plan comes as a continuation of the workshop that was executed last December with the aim to apply unified standards for safety and security in all tourism and hotel facilities in Abu Dhabi.”

He further noted: “The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority in cooperation with all of its partners, seeks to apply latest international standards in this field; hence, in 2012 it started preparing unified standards for safety and security in all tourist and hotel facilities. Applying these standards is carried out in partnership with the Civil Defense General Department in Abu Dhabi. The standards will be a compulsory requirement for the licensing process of all hotels; hotels that are found to be non-compliant to these standards will be shut down and prohibited from acquiring work licenses.”

The evacuation drill of Shangri La Hotel – Qaryat Al Beri in Abu Dhabi, began at 9:00 am, and was supervised by Colonel Mohammed Abdullah Al Nuaimi, Acting Director General of Civil Defense in Abu Dhabi. Rehearsing the prescribed scenario, one of the safety and security personnel in the hotel reported a fire in one of the rooms by calling number 999; once the Central Operation Room received the call, they informed the joint operation room to notify the specialized “Bain Al Jesrain” Center, since the incident occurred in the area of this authority. Specialized teams of civil defense and ambulance responded to the locations within a record time, the fire was contained, and guests’ evacuation started at 9:00 am when the hypothetical fire broke out. The drill lasted until 9:40 am

The authorities participating in executing the drill included: Civil Defense General Department; Traffic and Patrols Directorate; and Emergency and Public Safety Department in Abu Dhabi Police General Headquarters.

 

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