A recent spate of maliciously activated hoax fire alarms in a number of high schools and colleges has lead Council chiefs, the Police and the Fire and Rescue Service to condemn the reckless behaviour and warn that the unnecessary emergency callouts could stop genuine emergencies being attended and even result in a “needless tragedy”.
One school was evacuated seven times in the first twelve days of the new term due to hoax fire alarms, with fire crews attending one school on seven separate occasions in one week, due to pupils repeatedly setting off the fire alarm. Hoax alarms are also been being sparked by an irresponsible social media ‘trend’ which encourages students to post videos of the ensuing chaos worldwide.
One solution to the problem is an anti-vandal alarm call point cover which offers a simple, effective solution, designed to protect essential fire and security equipment against these types of unwanted false alarms.
An example of these is the Smart+Guard range of anti-vandal alarm call point covers manufactured in the UK by Vimpex. Smart+Guard is a tough polycarbonate hinged protective cover that can easily be installed over a range of emergency switches and other devices to provide protection from vandalism, accidental damage or misuse that causes unwanted alarms. Importantly, this type of covers offers significantly more physical protection and a far greater deterrent than the flimsy plastic covers often supplied with call points.
