Fire Alarms

[rickyr]

I am trying to find the magazine article that was about a Department in Nevada or Utah, i believe, that changed their responses to automatic alarms. The were requiring the Alarm Company to verify an emergency truly existed before they would respond. Anyone remember it?

[colwell]

Ricky, I don't recall the article, but we here in Beaufort, SC have modified our activated fire alrm response as follows: We tone out a single station response tone. The First due engine company and shift supervisor respond code 3, the second due engine responds w/o lights and siren. Should dispatch receive further information or the first due denotes there is in fact a true emergency, the call can be upgraded to a "full alert" where off duty career and volunteers respond. We found this to be successful, it ahsn't bit us in the *****, and it reduces traffic issues. Hope this helps. Jim

[james firebaugh III]

Ricky our department is investigating changing our response procedures also.I have been assigned this project and have found some articles in competeing magazines. I have also contacted various other departments in our area for information on their procedures. The best I can come up with is, you will have to design your system to meet your particular needs. You will have to do a risk assessment,check your ISO and accrediation requirements,and determine if minnimal response will adequately meet response needs. There are more things to look at than just budget reduction.You will also have to decide if response procedures will become a dispatch headache.You will also have to be careful not to fall victim to false alarm syndrome.

[rickyr]

Thanks for your replies, but I found the article I
was looking for. I should have explained it a little
as ya'll seemed to be thinking about something
different than I was. Here is the link to the story.http://www.firehouse.com/news/2002/2/1_FHvegas.html

[Chiefws]

False Alarms