Everyone has seen one of these pull station fire alarms since they are in most public buildings. They line the walls of hospitals, schools and office buildings. In fact most big buildings have these kind of fire alarms installed. The idea is that if you are walking down a hall and notice something odd then you can trigger an alarm to call for help and alert the rest of the building. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know the address of the building of the location of the fire since these alarms alert the nearest authorities automatically. They are also very easy to use since all you have to do is pull the handle.
Fire alarm pull stations work because it is directly connected to the fire department and can automatically alert them to the exact location of an activated handle. There are a lot of different kinds of these pull stations but they all work in similar ways. The most common are the ones that most people recognize with the handle that pulls straight down. Newer models may not have a handle at all but instead have a call button or a voice activated phone. No matter how it gets activated, as soon as it is then you can rest assured the fire department knows where you are and they are on their way. These alarms are very easy to set off by accident so most of the time they are covered in glass to prevent this from happening.
They are also usually placed high enough up on a wall so that small children can’t accidentally set it off either. The one exception is schools where the lever will naturally be lower so that the older children can reach it in case of an emergency. Keep in mind that although these alarms are connected to the fire department they are a separate system to the building’s fire alarm system. This alarm only alerts the fire officials, it does not activate the sirens or alarms to the rest of the building. So it is vital to note that if you pull this alarm then the rest of the building is still in danger.
Most of the time these fire alarm pull stations are located where they can be accessed very easily and conveniently. If they are placed properly then it should be impossible for anyone to now notice where they are. Just a quick scan of the room or hallway should reveal its location to everyone. If it is not in plain sight and accessible then it is useless in preventing disaster. They should also be inspected on a regular basis to be sure that they are functioning properly. Fire drills are a great way to determine if the levers are functioning as well as get everyone comfortable with emergency procedures.
