Fire alarms

[winesolveseverything]

Asking on behalf of a friend...

Her elderly mum who has dementia has just moved to live next door to her. Care is being provided by a mixture of my friend and an agency.

She is wondering however if it is possible to connect home fire alarms directly to the fire brigade- so that they would be alerted should it go off?

Her mum is very confused and is unable to open the doors, would therefore not be able to leave the house. If my friend is at home, she would hear the alarm and go straight round. She is concerned as to what would happen on the days where she works.

Her Mum doesn't cook and oven is switched off on main trip switch. Carers use microwave or friend takes hot meal round. Therefore unlikely that everyday toast burning etc would set it off.

I've suggested that she contacts fire service for a home visit and ask advice which she is organising.

Just wondered if anyone else had experience of this and any other suggestions of ways round it..

Thanks

I would ask the fire brigade to come round, she will also need a key safe so that emergency services can gain access to her house if they need to. She sounds pretty unsafe at home, if she cant open the door or use an oven maybe she needs a home visit from social services and occupational therapist. She sounds vulnerable, you could look at care alarms which might also offer fall mats, door alarms, smoke alarms, a home risk assessment might be a good idea. She might also need a capacity assessment to see how much she understands, does your friend have power of attorney, they have to think about how safe she is at home when your friend or the carers are ot there .

Look up the NHS personal alarms site