 One of the main reasons seniors opt for adult living communities is the prospect of affordable, convenient, stress-free living. Residents of these communities cherish their independence, but they also love the idea of declaring their independence from mowing the lawn, fixing the plumbing, hiring contractors and dealing with day-to-day home maintenance and repair. The last thing these seniors want to worry about is the protection offered by their life safety system.
That's one of the reasons why Paumanack
Village in Belleville, Long Island is installing
an easy-to-use Fire-Lite life safety system
in its brand new, 100-unit adult living community.
Dave Warasila of Doych Electric is the
contractor responsible for the installation,
of not only the life safety system, but also
of the intercom, alarm system, all the electrical
systems, lighting, on-site generators
and more. Dave has been doing these
installations in senior living communities
for more than seven years, and he is very
confident that Fire-Lite is not only the best
value for the project, but also makes the
most sense from an ease-of-use and safety
perspective.
An easy choice.
"In a complex like this one," Warasila
explained, "The senior residents, all 55 and
over, do not need the aggravation and
potential confusion that can come from a complex fire alarm system, or one with
limited communication capabilities. The
Fire-Lite system, an addressable control
panel combined with voice evacuation,
helps residents clearly understand what's
going on without having to decipher different
audible tones. The industry is finding
that voice is the most effective way to go
when evacuating people, especially when
alert tones are used for chemical spills,
bomb scares, earthquakes, tornado
warnings, and things like that."
Warasila and his team are installing Fire-
Lite's MS-9600 control panel in the building,
in conjunction with the company's
ACC-25/50ZS audio evacuation system
and 450 detectors, including 3 in each
apartment.
The MS-9600 is a compact, intelligent
addressable fire alarm control panel with
a capacity of 318 addressable Fire-Lite
devices on one Signaling Line Circuit
(SLC). The panel uses surface-mount technology
and is designed for not only easeof-
use, but also easy programming and
maintenance. Warasila paired the MS-9600
with Fire-Lite's ACC-25/50 audio evacuation
system, which features up to 150
watts of digital audio power for the clearest
possible transmissions to people who
may be partially hearing-impaired. It also
offers the capability for up to 24 separate
audio circuits, up to five customizable
messages, and full manual paging to allow
first responders to provide precise evacuation
directions to occupants.
Warasila continued, "We have full confidence
in the quality of the Fire-Lite
products. All the controls and supplies
are made right in Connecticut. They are
a great value without sacrificing quality.
You can't sacrifice quality in this business."
Accessing parts and increasing value.
The Fire-Lite system not only makes it
easy for installers to satisfy industry and
regional fire codes while meeting the
needs of senior residents, but it also
makes it much easier for installers, contractors,
maintenance and repair people to
do their jobs. This is because unlike many
other competitive products, the Fire-Lite
system is not proprietary.
"With some fire protection companies,"
explained Warasila, "If you ever need service,
the only company you can call forever
is the company that installed the system,
whether you like the service practices or
not. And you're also stuck needing equipment
manufactured by the original manufacturer,
which may not be easy to locate
or may even be discontinued. There's
absolutely no flexibility - systems in need
of repair can lead to potentially disastrous
downtime."
"With Fire-Lite systems," he continued."Finding compatible parts is never a problem.
You can go anywhere and pick up the
part you need the day you need it and get
your system back up and running fast. For
example, there are probably six locations
within 15 miles of the Belleville site that
will have the parts we need, accessible,
on the shelf, five and sometimes six days
a week."
Flexing its versatility.
Steve Nadel of Safeguard Security, the
security company responsible for performing
annual inspections, maintenance, central
station monitoring and general service
at Paumanack Village and many other senior
housing projects all over Long Island,
agrees with Dave Warasila's perspective
on Fire-Lite systems, to the point where
he's standardized Fire-Lite products on
many of these sites.
"I'm the king of Fire-Lite," he says, half in
jest. "The easy access to parts is certainly
an important benefit, as is the ease of use.
To that list I'd also add value - you can
get a lot more technology for your money
with one of these systems. And in my particular
profession, I'd have to put the reliability
of the products at the top of my list,
as well as the ease with which I can get
technical service assistance. Fire-Lite's
team is just a phone call away and readily
available."
Nadel was also quick to point out that the
flexibility of Fire-Lite's system is particularly
advantageous in an adult living community.
"We use these products for more than just
fire alarms," he said. "We can also incorporate
medical emergency monitoring and
notification into the system. We can install
pull cords in all the apartments, which can
send a distinct signal to the control panel
that in turn, notifies the appropriate medical
personnel of the exact location of a
medical emergency. In so doing, the Fire-
Lite systems can save lives in many more
ways than one."
In the Fall of 2005, the first residents
moved into Paumanack Village. And they
moved in safe in the knowledge that they
are well-protected in the event of an emergency.
"I'd say that out of all the installs we've
done over the past seven years," Warasila
concluded, "we've had less than a dozen
service calls on these systems. They're
very reliable."
This reliability together with the system's
ease-of-use, translates to stress-free,
worry-free living for the building's new
senior residents. Which is really what facilities
like Paumanack Village are all about. |
