Whislt discussing Resi Care and evacuation problems and staffing levels at night, what are your opinions on the fire services not attending unless there is a confirmed fire ?
I have experience of fire brigades telling homes they will not attend because they have had 1 false alarm ( not always UWFS, and some times not even had 1) in one year unless there is a confirmed fire.
How can you expect nursing staff to go into a roof void or where ever the signal is indicated to be, to check if there is a fire, in a building with a vulnerable, dependant , occupancy that requires all hands to the pump ( bad pun), to safely evacuate residents needing assistance, whilst also having a 2.5 minute evacuation time levelled at them, but still have staff going off to check on a fire then come back to call the fire service.
I understand the need to stop the number of UWFS, and the majority of them can be reduced by good management of the systems, but then to apply blanket rules to everyone, shows a lack of intelligence and understanding of the risks in the outside world of the present fire service management.
The CFOA policy on UWFS does not lead anyone to stop attending signals via 999 in vulnerable buildings, in general the ARC's signals are the problem.
In most homes they know immediatley if a cleaner as set off a detector so will not call the FRS, but if a detector has gone off somewhere in a building during the night where staff are not in the vicinity to have done something to cause UWFS, the sensible and safe approach is call the FRS straight away, and then join the ( possibly only one ) other members of staff in investigating and evacuating if required. if they then find no sign of fire they can re call the FRS and turn them around or let them proceed at a reduced speed.
The first time we have a serious fire and the fire service have not attended following a 999 call, I hope they are prepared to defend there action. Remember for years fire authorities have told people to extend the cover of detection systems, and into concealed areas (also the industry tells us how sophisticated and relaible they are), and now they want to ignore them.
And don't anyone say that the FRS will treat hospitals and resi care differently, because I am seeing the standard letters being sent to care homes.