Moorfields Eye Hospital in London has had an upgrade to their fire alarms. In the first phase of the project, Moorfields has replaced fire alarm bells with 250 multi-message Fire-Cryer Plus voice sounders from the manufacturer Vimpex Ltd. When the project is complete, the hospital will have more than 500 of the products fitted.
Since staff and occupants are familiar with the traditional bell tone, the sounders have been programmed so that a realistic bell tone precedes the evacuation and alarm messages. The system has been configured into 48 zones to allow phased evacuation of the building in the event of a fire. This also reduces the disruption to patients and staff in the event of a false alarm or an incident that can quickly be resolved. The use of unambiguous voice messages to accompany the traditional bell tone will aid evacuation by removing the confusion often associated with building alarms.
The makers say that each voice sounder can be programmed with up to seven messages from a library of thousands. Many are multi-lingual. The units can be fully synchronised and have a low current consumption allowing replacement of existing sounders and bells. The multi-message capability also ensures that system test and all-clear messages can be easily transmitted avoiding confusion with the fire/evacuation alarm.
All of the Fire-Cryers at Moorfields are the standard wall-mounted units, some of which have been specified with the integral synchronised high-output LED strobe, so that alarms can be seen, heard and understood. The makers say this makes Fire-Cryer Plus a solution for Equality Act-compliant fire safety applications. Other models in the range include ceiling mounted units that can be installed under smoke detectors and high-output versions for use in open spaces and outdoors.
Pictured: London’s Moorfields Eye Hospital.
