I had a feeling when I read this thread, and upon inspecting, I wasn't wrong. Here's your problem:
She [minister Blais] said that the building was inspected recently and had its certification renewed, adding that the facility has six people who work overnight, exceeding the two required by the province.
...
She said that there are 660 residents in the Lux Gouverneur seniors' residence, 69 of which receive some form of home care through the regional health authority.
That means that each member of staff had 110 people to navigate.
A hundred and ten per person. That's a pretty large amount (and the fact that the province only requires 2 night guards by law means that other senior residence's will have a potentially much higher risk of this sort of thing happening). I mean...say you are tasked to evacuate everyone in your street. Would you be able to do it better?
My girlfriend works in a retirement home. As a result, I'm now downright afraid to grow old. Why? Because these places are chronically understaffed, staff has to do a wide array of different tasks and the elderly are (apparently) growing more demanding (and egocentric) by the month. And while many are friendly and understanding, there are still members who cannot walk by themselves, have to be helped out of bed (and into their clothes), that "wander around" like that (seriously: some just attempt to go out and then forget where they are) or are treating the personnel like they're in some kind of spa.
So a fire alarm in the middle of the night isn't a joke. It's more like a pandemic. Just getting "your" 110 elderly out of the bed and decently dressed is something I have no idea how I'd do in a short time, let alone guide them all to the designated areas.
...and then back. This "isn't there a head count?" is a very valid question, but I fear that it doesn't take reality into account. Can I count to 110? Sure. That's...ten people in the wheel chairs. 12,14, 16...hey, Ms Smith: wait up, please. We're getting back to the dorm soon. 18, 20, 22...would you please stand still over there? I'm trying to count here! 24, 26, 27...did I count you already? Please...stay still for a moment. No, ms. Drew: there is no need to panic. Oh, wait...mr Jones has fallen. Let me help you up. What? No, I don't know when we'll get back to the dorm. I just have to count everyone. So...29, 31, 33...hey! What are you doing here, Jim? You should be in Carol's group. She's over there. Yeah...go on. It's okay. Just down the hallway. Now, where was I with counting? 33, right? Oh...wait...we are allowed to go back to our rooms. <*everyone starts leaving*> I...guess I'll count you all when everyone's back in their room, then.
See where I'm going with this? It's pretty easy to find someone dead in the snow and point out the importance of a head count. But in the heat of the moment you'll see another task that has to be done immediately or the family will have your head over it ("what do you mean, you couldn't help my poor father up? Was counting REALLY that important???").
