August 29, 2022

Dear Residents, Families and Employees,

Since our community has Independent Living, Personal Care, and the Health Center, we had to modify the message for the overhead announcement when the fire alarm is activated. Each area has different fire evacuation procedures in the event of a fire.

When the fire alarm is activated it now states, “Attention please, attention please, an emergency situation exists, please proceed to the nearest shelter in place location.”  This means that you follow your fire evacuation plan based on where you reside or work. We have 3 distinct different evacuation plans, 1 for Independent Living, 1 for Personal Care, and 1 for the Health Center.

We have also added a feature, which is personal notification to Independent Living and Personal Care residents when the fire alarm is activated. Each resident will receive a phone call from an automated system we have set up. If you have both a land line and cell phone, you will receive a telephone communication and a text message.

The call is programmed to come from Heritage Towers, but the voice will be robotic. It will state, “Attention, attention, the fire alarm has been activated, please follow the proper procedures, DEVICE NAME is in alarm.”  It will give the exact device name. For example, it may say something like, “manual pull alarm, zone 5 [M97 M09] 5 FL by Stair A”, which means that someone manually used the pull station on the 5th floor by Stairwell A. Or it would state something else that may not make any sense to you, like “Hood System Alarm, Zone 1”. While it does not make sense to residents and families, it does to the staff, especially Maintenance and Security. In order to give this type of notification, we have to use the device labeling in our Fire Alarm Panel. All devices that alert us to fire and smoke must have specific labeling.

Our care teams and security staff carry phones for our call system (pendants in Independent Living, and call bells in the Health Center). When the fire alarm is activated, they will receive the same message over their phone that you do.

When we are testing our Fire Alarm system or doing our monthly required drills for Personal Care and the Health Center, we have the ability to deactivate the calls and text messages from being sent out, which is our plan.

It is important that each area, Independent Living,  Personal Care, and the Health Center continue to follow their specific evacuation plan. Some shelter in place in their apartments, or rooms, while others have to evacuate to a fire safe area on their floor and shelter in place there.

If there were a need to evacuate the entire building, the decision would be made by the Fire Marshal and/or Fire Chief. We have specific evacuation plans in place if that were to occur which includes the assistance of the first responders attending to our situation.

Lastly, in the future, we intend on using the same system to send out other calls and text messages for other types of emergency situations.

For any questions, you may contact me directly at ldukert@wesleyenhancedliving.org or 267-895-1132. Internally, my extension is 502. You may also contact Tony Pellitta – Director of Facility Operations tpellitta@wesleyenhancedliving.org, or 267-267-895-1145.

Respectfully,

Lynne Dukert, NHA, PCHA

Executive Director