While we know that Carbon Monoxide Gas alarms are some of the deadliest alarms we deal with, it can often be difficult to convince our customers. It’s not uncommon for customers to become frustrated and angry when our operators follow protocols on this particular signal.
When an alarm such as this one is triggered, it’s often difficult for the customer to believe that they could be in jeopardy. After all, the alarm is odorless and invisible. There’s nothing other than the alarm and maybe how you feel to alert you to a problem!
Here’s what you, the dealer, need to know about how dispatch handles a gas alarm.
- If there are subscriber numbers on the account we will call to attempt to verify the alarm first.
- If there are no subscribers or no one answers at the subscriber numbers, we will go straight to dispatch the fire department.
- Should a subscriber answer the dispatcher will notify them of the alarm and ask if they know what caused the alarm to go off.
- If the person on site knows what set off the alarm and can guarantee that it’s false, the dispatcher will clear the alarm. If, however, the person on site either tells the dispatcher it’s a false alarm but can not identify what set it off or simply doesn’t know, the dispatcher will advise the person on site that Carbon Monoxide alarms are invisible and odorless, ask if they are feeling ill, then advise the person to vacate the premise along with any family members or pets that may be inside until the fire department arrives and clears the scene.
- Finally, we either clear the alarm or dispatch based on the information given.
Yes, sometimes this means your customers are angry because they “feel fine” or they are sure that everything is ok because the alarm from a week or two ago was false, but we can’t assume that, nor is it a chance we can take. In fact, HERE‘s an article from just a week ago where a family nearly died due to such an issue.
The consequences for being wrong are not acceptable, so we urge you to make sure you understand the protocols, that your customers at least have a basic knowledge of what to expect, and that you encourage them to call us to place their accounts on test when they’re replacing batteries or upgrading their CO2 detectors.