Regent College, Leicester is the first in education to install Refuge Alerter®. The product designed by radio communication experts Deaf Alerter plc is predicted to be a revolution within the industry.

A refuge area provides a temporarily safe space where disabled people can wait for others to help them evacuate in an emergency evacuation situation. This can be quite a daunting prospect for people especially if they are alone. Building regulations recommend that an emergency voice communication system is installed in a building Refuge area.

Regent College carried out a fire safety audit to ensure that the college was up to date with health and safety requirements. It was identified that some form of communication was required between the refuge areas and a central location in the event of an emergency evacuation.

Following the success of the Deaf Alerter fire alarm and messaging system for Deaf and hard of hearing people, Deaf Alerter plc’s resources were invested in developing a product that would offer an alternative to hard wired refuge communication systems using radio based technology.

The Ofcom licensed RA1000 system provides wireless communication between the refuge outstations, fixed base station and a unique portable refuge communicator. Traditional refuge communication systems require the base station to be continually manned during an emergency. In many buildings this would be inconvenient or impossible as this person might need to be actively engaged in controlling the incident away from their desk. The portable refuge communicator overcomes this restriction.

David Small, Estates Manager at the college commented “Making facilities accessible to everyone is a priority to us. We are committed to creating a safe environment for students here at Regent College. The Refuge Alerter system we have installed for the start of the new academic year demonstrates this. The flexibility that the portable refuge communicator offers will be invaluable to the fire safety officers in assisting rescue teams”.

As part of their continued improvements, the College simulated an evacuation exercise involving Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service. The Refuge Alerter communication system was used as part of the exercise to establish which refuge areas were in use and offer reassurance that help was on the way.