Final answer:
The first response during a fire should be to remove patients in immediate danger if safe, followed by sounding the nearest fire alarm. Other steps include closing doors and windows to contain the fire if safely possible, and extinguishing small fires if trained to do so.
Step-by-step explanation:
During a fire, the most critical initial action is to ensure personal safety and the safety of those in immediate danger. Therefore, the first thing you should do is A. remove patients in immediate danger if it is safe to do so. This action aligns with the fundamental rescue principle of firefighters to prioritize life safety. Once you have ensured that there isn't a direct threat to life, you should then B. sound the nearest alarm to alert others in the building and the fire department. However, one must never delay sounding the alarm if they are not directly in a position to help someone in danger.
Assessing fires and situations is crucial to making informed decisions, and professional firefighters are trained to report conditions to superiors using two-way radios. As a layperson, your primary duty is to safeguard yourself and others, and to alert emergency services as quickly as possible.
Closing doors and windows (C. close the doors and windows) to confine the fire can help prevent the fire from spreading, but should be done only after ensuring that everyone is out of the room and it is safe to do so without delaying your own exit or that of others. Attempting to D. extinguish the fire should only be done if the fire is small and can be put out with a fire extinguisher, and if the person doing so has been trained to use it without jeopardizing their safety or that of others.