FIRE ALARM

When a fire alarm goes off at a program or work site, Berkshire Communicators performs the following actions in the following order:
1) Dispatches the fire department to the program/work site.
2) Calls the program/work site for more information. (IE nature of emergency, is ambulance or police needed)
3) Calls the HEC maintenance department emergency cell phone, which is carried by the on-call maintenance staff.
4) If #3 is not successful, calls through the call list of designated staff until one is reached.

When any fire alarm goes off in a building, in addition to immediately evacuating the building, a Supervisor shall call 911 as soon as possible to have the 911 dispatcher alert the fire department as to the nature of the alarm.

This step is useful to the fire department so as to respond appropriately. For example, if a student was witnessed pulling a pull station, relay this to the 911 dispatcher so the fire department can send fewer vehicles.
The other reason to always call 911 is so we verify the alarm signal was received. The fire alarms use an automatic phone dialer to send the alarm signal to Berkshire Communicators; if the phone dialer is out of order, no signal will be sent and no response from the fire department.

OTHER ALARMS

If a Carbon Monoxide Detector goes off or there is a smell of Natural Gas/propane, treat like a fire alarm (i.e., activate pull station, evacuate building and call 911).

There are other alarms to be aware of that are not connected into a system that automatically summons the fire dept. or police such as: delayed egress panic hardware on doors, trouble signal from fire alarm panels and fire pull station covers; be aware of different sounds and what they represent and what your response should be.
FIRE DRILL

Supervisor must call Berkshire Communicators (413-499-3650) before the drill to communicate to them you are doing a test and after the drill to verify the alarm and restore signals were received (you must have the Fire alarm panel # available).
If Berkshire Communicators indicates they did not receive an alarm or restore, the emergency pager must be called immediately and a SchoolDude work order must be submitted.
Calling 911 is not required for a fire drill.

FALSE ALARMS

If a Supervisor has verified that there is a false alarm (i.e., a student was seen by a staff member pulling the fire alarm), the Supervisor shall directly call 911, identify themselves, give the campus address and tell the dispatcher that the alarm is a verified false alarm.

All alarms should be treated as unknown, including verified false alarms, and building evacuation should take place. The alarm should not be silenced or reset until the Fire Dept arrives or instructs you to do so.