You’ve seen them in public buildings, schools, hospitals and offices but do you know what they are and how to use them?
Manual call points are essentially just another form of fire detection – the difference is that YOU are the detector! They make it easy for people like you and me to make it known that there is danger from fire on the premises and that action needs to be taken.
Manual call points are normally installed as part of a fire alarm system at regular intervals thoughout a building, it is even possible to buy weatherproof manual call points that can be positioned outside. The call point will be connected on a loop to a fire alarm control panel and when you activate the manual call point, what you’re actually doing is sending a message to the control panel to let it know that there is a fire danger in your immediate area. The person in charge of monitoring the control panel will be able to see that the alarm has been activated and investigate and take action on your behalf. Some control panels even send automatic messages to the emergency services.
In the past, manual call points had a glass screen that had to be broken before the call point button could be pressed – you may even be familiar with this type of device as a ‘break glass’. However, glass is no longer used as the cost of replacing used call points was considerable and there was danger of injury to the person using the call point.
Modern manual call points now have plastic elements that have to be firmly depressed to activate an alarm. Modern call points with plastic elements are also resettable and can be used time and time again. This change in design has also acted as a deterrent to vandals and trouble-makers as it is no longer as costly and time-consuming as it once was to deal with a false alarm.
If you discover a fire and you know of a manual call point nearby do not be hesitant to use it. Your actions could make a big difference to the severity of the fire. Firmly press the call point element on the spot marked by the arrows and make your way to safety. Some call points will even make it clear that your activation has been successful by dropping a small flag into the call point window.
And if you’ve been mistaken, don’t worry! The call point can easily be reset with the use of a special reset key.
