An investigation of building occupants behaviour during fire alarm

The safety of building occupants during fire emergencies depends mainly on the occupant's behavior in the fire event. Therefore, this study investigates the behavior of high–rise building occupants in Nigeria when they hear the sound of fire alarm under fire drill. The study adopted a survey research design. The population for this study consists of 349 low and high-rise building occupants across six north-central state of Nigeria. A research question was used to direct the study. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from the respondents which was duly validated by an expert in the field of fire safety. Cronbach Alpha reliability technique was used to determine the internal consistency of the questionnaire items at 0.90. Data collected were analysed through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Analysis of Moment of Statistics (Amos). After a preliminary analysis (descriptive), data from respondents were found suitable for presence in confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), The CFA was performed, and results of the analysis support the one-factor model of occupants behavior in building when they hear the sound of the alarm during a building fire can enhance early evacuation and safety of lives and properties. The study found that occupants required nine actions to be taken when they hear the sound of fire alarm under investigation. However, the study recommended that fire training; total compliance with the relevant fire safety regulations, fire drill, fire communication, and effective fire safety management should be organized for the high or low-rise building occupants to enhance their knowledge of fire safety in a building

Fire safety management strategy in Nigeria public buildings

Ineffective fire safety management is one of the severe issues in public buildings, especially in Nigeria. There has been a significant increase in fire disaster cases in Nigeria in the last 25 years, the incidence of fire disasters becomes the most significant and ultimate threat to building occupants, building and its contents, as well as the economic growth of the nation. Therefore, in order to ensure the safety of building occupants, building contents, the essential features depend on the fire safety protection system, which should be under the fire safety regulation requirements. Nonetheless, practical fire safety management could remedy the damages or rates of injury in fire events. This study presents the findings on the investigation of the effectiveness of fire safety management strategy in Nigeria public buildings. This study attempts to determine the factors affecting improper fire safety management and determine the level of effective implementation of fire safety management components. From the study, safety training and adequate fire safety compliance are the factors that affect improper fire safety management the most. The level of effective implementation of fire safety management strategy is low, which translated to inadequate fire safety management. The most effective approach identified to improve the fire safety management and achievement of fire safety objectives is through effective fire safety management strategy and improvement in fire safety training arrangement and absolute compliance with the fire safety regulations

Thigh-length compression stockings and DVT after stroke

Controversy exists as to whether neoadjuvant chemotherapy improves survival in patients with invasive bladder cancer, despite randomised controlled trials of more than 3000 patients. We undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the effect of such treatment on survival in patients with this disease

Azithromycin in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial

Background Azithromycin has been proposed as a treatment for COVID-19 on the basis of its immunomodulatory actions. We aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of azithromycin in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19. Methods In this randomised, controlled, open-label, adaptive platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy [RECOVERY]), several possible treatments were compared with usual care in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 in the UK. The trial is underway at 176 hospitals in the UK. Eligible and consenting patients were randomly allocated to either usual standard of care alone or usual standard of care plus azithromycin 500 mg once per day by mouth or intravenously for 10 days or until discharge (or allocation to one of the other RECOVERY treatment groups). Patients were assigned via web-based simple (unstratified) randomisation with allocation concealment and were twice as likely to be randomly assigned to usual care than to any of the active treatment groups. Participants and local study staff were not masked to the allocated treatment, but all others involved in the trial were masked to the outcome data during the trial. The primary outcome was 28-day all-cause mortality, assessed in the intention-to-treat population. The trial is registered with ISRCTN, 50189673, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04381936. Findings Between April 7 and Nov 27, 2020, of 16 442 patients enrolled in the RECOVERY trial, 9433 (57%) were eligible and 7763 were included in the assessment of azithromycin. The mean age of these study participants was 65·3 years (SD 15·7) and approximately a third were women (2944 [38%] of 7763). 2582 patients were randomly allocated to receive azithromycin and 5181 patients were randomly allocated to usual care alone. Overall, 561 (22%) patients allocated to azithromycin and 1162 (22%) patients allocated to usual care died within 28 days (rate ratio 0·97, 95% CI 0·87–1·07; p=0·50). No significant difference was seen in duration of hospital stay (median 10 days [IQR 5 to >28] vs 11 days [5 to >28]) or the proportion of patients discharged from hospital alive within 28 days (rate ratio 1·04, 95% CI 0·98–1·10; p=0·19). Among those not on invasive mechanical ventilation at baseline, no significant difference was seen in the proportion meeting the composite endpoint of invasive mechanical ventilation or death (risk ratio 0·95, 95% CI 0·87–1·03; p=0·24). Interpretation In patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19, azithromycin did not improve survival or other prespecified clinical outcomes. Azithromycin use in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 should be restricted to patients in whom there is a clear antimicrobial indication. Funding UK Research and Innovation (Medical Research Council) and National Institute of Health Research