is it common procedure for after a 'fire alarm' or any kind of evacuation alarm being sounded in your dorm or

Question

apartment building they cannot tell you whether or not it was a drill and they cannot tell you which kind of alarm it was that sounded, fire alarm... etc. ? because here they told me 'for security purposes' they cannot tell me which alarm sounded or why.... and how does that keep me safe? to not know if there was a fire or a shooting or a drill...? or even the difference between a fire alarm and a tornado alarm? I dont understand...

there actually was fire trucks and police... so does that mean it was real?

Answer 1

I guess they figure that if they tell you that it was a false alarm 99 times then the 100th time when it is not a false alarm you would not pay any attention to it.

However, what these people are not thinking about is that if you are pulled out of your dorm 99 times for an alarm and you never see smoke or fire damage then the 100th time you may just ignore the alarm as well.

Sounds like the place you are staying at has security problems combined with some idiotic people living there who pull fire alarms because they think it is funny.

ADDED:
When I was in the dorms and some idiot would pull the alarm for the fun of it, we would have fire trucks and police show up as well. They are trying to guard against the "boy who cried wolf" syndrome. The school used to try to tell us there was an invisible dye on the alarms that would show on your hands under a black light if you pulled an alarm. However, I noticed that the number of false alarms never went down and that after each one no one ever checked the hands with a UV light for the dye. So much for that story. I have no idea what they did to stop it. I was out of the dorms a little later. For all I know, they are still having a problem with it today.

Answer 2

I read your posting earlier something close to this.

Anyways here my input...it's a common practice to have a fire drill in your apartment/dorm (especially if a school). It depends on your facility procedure if they have an all clear signal or just tell everyone its safe to go back. They're just testing it. I'm sure someone was evaluating the whole thing, how people reacted, how long it took, what happend & etc., & someone is probally working on it to improve it procedures such as evacuation, emergency alarms, egress & evacuation routes & an emergency response plan.

Ask the person whos in charge of that facility at your location, you have the right to know what written procedures they have and if theres a map posted to identify its routes of evacuation. You have the right to know.

If its the real thing, the fire department & authorities would of gotten automatically dispatched to your location.

Answer 3

i once lived on the seventh floor of a backpackers hostel in edinburgh for 7 months at the same time as i become vacationing. the fireplace alarm went off at 3am one morning and that i become downstairs and outdoors before the individuals on the first floor had even got down to the floor floor. i become in bare ft and pyjamas contained in the snow (and, surprisingly, got here down conserving my pillow it really is the in basic terms element i grabbed besides my passport), yet i'm telling you it become below a minute, from a deep sleep!!