Measures to Reduce Repeat non-emergency call outs implemented by Fire and Rescue Service
This year East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service are beginning to increase their efforts towards reducing the number of false fire alarms and non-emergency lift calls. The new drive follows the release of figures showing that in the year 2016/17 the Service responded on to 9,144 incidents, 4,514 (49.4%) of which were false alarms including 3,177 from automatic fire alarm systems.
The service is now posting out letters to properties where there have been a number of repeated false call outs.
While it is critically important that the fire service respond to emergency call outs, it does mean a lot of wasted resources are spent chasing up non-emergencies that have been triggered by faulty alarm systems. There is also the grave concern that given the limited budget that the emergency services have to work with, being distracted from real emergencies could potentially be life-threatening.
Fire alarm maintenance
Local businesses, commercial property owners and landlords can all take very simple steps to help reduce the number of false fire alarm call outs. By taking the advice of the fire service to have their fire alarm system regularly serviced and maintained, they will be helping fire crews remain free to tackle real life saving emergencies.
Fire alarms do an essential job of alerting occupants to the dangers of fire breaking out on the premises. However, they can only function properly and respond in a crisis if they are well maintained.
It is very easy for anyone that has a fire alarm system to put into place a schedule of regular servicing and maintenance through booking the services of a local fire alarm maintenance company. They can also advise you about steps to take to reduce the numbers of false fire alarms as well as offer an inspection to make sure that your fire alarm system is adequate for your premises.
A lot of commercial properties and business premises can make changes or re-organise their room usage within a building. This can often mean that changes to the use of a room will need different types of fire and smoke detectors being fitted. Also, where a building extension may be added at some point, the new area will need to be covered by a fire alarm system. This may mean extending the cover provided by an existing fire alarm system, or the complete replacement or upgrade of the system to cover for added risk factors.
Fire alarm system owners should also realise that maintaining their equipment can work out to be very cost-effective, especially where there is a risk of being charged or fined to cover the costs of calling out the fire service repeatedly for false alarms.