RedGage

A roaring fire breaks out at work and you feel stuck to the floor, your legs feel sedated and your brain just doesn't work. The red fire panel is right in front of you, but you just seem at a loss. With the fire licking up the equipments one by one, you feel like you don't stand a chance! And you black out with one thought in mind, “If only the fire panel had not seemed so complicated!”

 This is not an everyday scenario, but could not be ruled out nonetheless. And this is where prevention comes to the rescue. To avoid a mishap like this. You would want your fire alarm to be as easy to operate as possible, because it becomes quite difficult to focus at the time of emergency. If you are thinking of installing a new fire panel, we have a list of features that you should definitely look out for.

Ease of operation

 In a situation like the one mentioned above, the fire panel will obviously not have your undivided attention. Your mind is bound to be distracted by the emergency at hand and the numerous quizzical faces bombarding your better judgment. And automatically your focus will dwindle. Therefore, it is imperative to install a fire control panel which is easy to operate. Now the question that arises here is, how would you know that your fire control panel has all that? The intuitiveness of a panel can be determined by the following;

• Number of buttons on the panel
• Layout and labeling of the buttons
• Ease of readability of the display

Even though every workplace has trained personnel in charge of such calamities, but you need to keep in mind that the operations of your fire panel should be easy enough for anyone to use.

Number of buttons on the panel

The fewer the buttons, the easier it appears to the user and therefore, decision making becomes quicker. But a panel with a large number of buttons is more likely to get most people confused at the time of emergency. A few important buttons include:

• Rest
• Silence
• Acknowledge

It will be wiser to install a panel that has these important buttons widely separated with the names written clearly on top of each. Increasing the number of buttons beyond the above mentioned ones would add to the complexity of the situation. And the user would end up facing a paralyzing dilemma to hit the right button.

Panel readability

A fire mishap is a situation which strikes immediate panic. People run haywire with alarms ringing, palms sweating and hearts beating loud. This situation can be contained to a certain degree if the fire could be located. This makes it easier to determine which zone to evacuate first, instead of getting immersed in a pool of panicked people to make your way to the exit. Therefore, it is important to have your fire control panel display the location of the fire, instead of unnecessary buttons. This will not only save time, but also a lot of lives as well.

Passwords and keys 

The NFPA standards strictly specifies that a fire alarm system should be password or key-operated to avoid any kind of tampering. Now the problem with password is, it somehow tends to elude our memory. Therefore, it is always advisable to create an appropriate password and write it down to ensure recollection, because the last you want is a fire accident and a fire alarm activation password that no one remembers.

Conventional and addressable panels

An addressable fire alarm system involves connecting the fire devices in a loop with the control panel. As soon as a fire is detected, the exact location where the fire alarm has been activated shows up on the fire control panel making it easier to spot the place. However, with a conventional alarm system, there is no way to pinpoint the location of the fire. Therefore, an addressable panel is more effective than a conventional one for a moderately big building. In addition to that, the whole installation and management of an addressable panel is more cost effective than a conventional one.

 When the fire breaks, it is not the engineer or the technician or the trained maintenance personnel who will come to the immediate rescue. It is the common, panicked and massively confused person who would be operating the panel. Therefore, while you are busy looking into the features of the panel, keep in mind that it is this person that counts.

Katie Smith is a Fire Expert and his area of interests and expertise lies in forensic science and accident or crime scene investigation related matters. He often consults Houston Fire Investigation