SWANSON CENTER POLICY AND PROCEDURE POLICY NO.: EC 02-20.0

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SUBJECT: Panic Button Use DATE REVISED: 04/11/01

NEXT REVISION:

AUTHORITY OF: Chief Executive Officer

RESPONSIBILITY OF: Management Team

ADOPTED BY: Management Team

PURPOSE:

How to use panic buttons, as an emergency response tool.

POLICY STATEMENT:

It is the policy of the Swanson Center to provide means for staff to contact the local police department as rapidly as possible, when an emergency warranting such contact arised. This is done through the use of panic buttons.

PROCEDURE:

I.  Location and operation.

A.  These buttons are located under the Receptionist/Secretary desks in reporting units/work areas listed on the attached sheet.

B.  Shorewood’s panic button is a remote-type unlike the panic buttons used in the other RU/Work areas. When pushed, a signal is received immediately by the Michigan City Police Department. The police consequently respond.

C.  At non Shorewood facilities the button is activated by:

1.  Removing the cover

2.  Pressing the button

II.  “Emergency 24” is the service used by the Sentinel Alarm Co. of Michigan City, who installed the panic buttons.

A. When the “Emergency 24” call back, the following information will be requested:

1. The Swanson Center account number 10243

2.  The pass code 243

B. This information will be kept by the telephones located where the panic buttons are installed.

C. In the event the alarm is activated in error, you should:

1. Call “Emergency 24” at 1-800-424-3624, and inform them of the error. The police may still respond to the call even if you called and reported the error.

2.  Call the MIS Department and let them know of the error so they can reset the alarm.

D. To test the panic buttons, you must:

1. Call “Emergency 24” and inform them that you want to “take self out of service.” Then you can test the button.

2. When you are finished you must contact MIS to reset the alarm control box located in the phone room, then call “Emergency 24” and ask them to “reinstate service.”

3.  Test should be done periodically. Possibly testing one site per quarter.

III.  The alarm control box is located in the phone room on the fifth (5th) floor. The key to the phone room is kept in the MIS Department.

IV.  To reset the alarm control box:

A. Open the Cover

POLICY NO: EC 02-20.0

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B. Push the menu button to activate and reset.

C. Enter the reset code (rest code is 1234), which is located on the cover.

V. The alarm control box will be monitored quarterly to check for alarms that were activated, but not reported so that the control box could be reset. There will be a message on the display that says “Alarm” and it will display the suite number for the site that was activated. This can only be done by MIS or the Safety Warden. The fifth (5th) floor will keep a log and forward it annually to the Safety Officer at the end of each fiscal year.

Y: SAFETY/PANIC BUTTONS.02.doc

ADOPTED: PREVIOUS POLICY: None