What can be done to reduce false alarms?

Such incidents have been a significant concern for healthcare facilities teams, and for the fire and rescue services serving them, for many years, and, although the past decade has seen determined efforts to substantially reduce the number bearing fruit, many believe far too many still occur. HEJ editor, Jonathan Baillie, reports on a recent London roundtable discussion staged by two leading fire detection and alarm equipment specialists, Apollo Fire Detectors, and Static Systems Group, with IHEEM, which brought together experts to discuss what more can be done to minimise false fire alarms.

False fire alarms – i.e. incidents where the local fire and rescue service receives a call to a reportable fire and attends, only to find there is, in fact, no fire, have been a significant issue in healthcare, as elsewhere, for many years. Fortunately, however, close liaison between many local fire services and, for example, in healthcare, the Responsible Persons for fire safety within NHS Trusts, have seen the number across all sectors in Great Britain continue to fall over the past decade. While in 2000/1 (the Department for Communities and Local Government’s (DCLG’s) ‘Fire statistics, Great Britain, 2011-2012’ publication reveals) there were (rounded up to the nearest 1,000), around 450,000 false fire alarms, a decade later the number had fallen to around 312,400, itself an 8% reduction on the previous year, while false alarms in 2011/12 attributed to ‘problems with apparatus’ were 9% lower than in 2010/11. DCLG statistics on false fire alarms in hospitals, medical centres, and care homes, also show a downward trend; falling from 28,691 in 2009/10, to 27,236 in 2010/11, and to 23,586 in 2011/12. The corresponding figures for care homes were 18,872 in 2009/10, 17,374 in 2010/11, and 16,019 in 2011/12. The reductions suggest that efforts to reduce false alarms continue to have a marked effect in the healthcare sector, but Apollo Fire Detectors, which co-staged the London roundtable with IHEEM, acknowledged, in the January/February 2013 issue of its in-house newsletter, Monitor, that the whole industry ‘recognises that these figures could be so much better’. The article went on to say: “Technology exists that, when applied and installed properly, means false alarms really could be a thing of the past. False alarms place a huge time and financial burden on fire services around the world.” The recent roundtable, entitled ‘Reducing false alarms,’ was held in central London, and chaired by IHEEM’s CEO, Julian Amey. Lending their expertise, experience, and views, were Paul Pope, business innovation manager, at Apollo Fire Detectors; Chris Smith, fire systems engineering manager at Static Systems; Peter Aldridge, fire safety manager at Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust (also representing the National Association of Healthcare Fire Officers (NAHFO)), and John Allwork, head of estates operations at the Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust – which runs North Manchester General Hospital, The Royal Oldham Hospital, Fairfield General Hospital in Bury, and Rochdale Infirmary, which together serve a local population of around 800,000.

Expertise described