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Ok, so you’re now an expert on proactive vs. reactive safety and you’re here. We’ll be delving into the aftermath of David and Angie’s situations and we’ll help you stay in the loop and ahead of the game by making the most of Airis’s capabilities. Fantastic if you’re a property/building manager or a discerning relative and you want to look after your loved one more effectively to help retain their independence. Sounds good, right? To refresh your memory, we’ve included the cases again below. Let’s have a better look now.
For David, if he is lucky enough to escape harm and avoid starting a fire, there won’t be any records of the incident ever occurring. If the alarm isn’t connected to a telecare system, the alarm will be reset and forgotten about.
If this happens often, it leads to complacency for wardens or building managers just rendering it an annoyance and inconvenience. The root cause of the issue isn’t addressed, and David remains at risk. This, after all, is the exact reason David has moved into sheltered accommodation, but for what benefit?
If the accommodation has robust reporting procedures and formally logs the event, that will mean lots of questions for David, lots of forms to be filed and lots of margin for human error. The data is easily inputted incorrectly and vital needs that it highlights can be ignored or overlooked. The fire service will likely be called out to check the property over, ventilate the kitchen from the thick smell of smoke, or just find everything is in order and head off to another case where a real fire may have started.
If the situation is worse and a fire has started, or if multiple near misses are recorded, David may face a cohort of strangers coming into the property, lots of smoke and fire damage, rehoming, people asking even more questions, assessing his health and competency, telling him his cooker will be disconnected for his own safety and that of the other residents.
It’s confusing and intimidating that things will be changing, and that he can no longer cook for himself. Meals will have to be arranged at a greater cost and he can’t make his favourite dishes any longer. David is now greatly unsettled and fears that even more of his independence will be taken away from him. He feels angry that he let the hob get out of control, even though he was only away from the kitchen for a few moments. It’s quite a change for David, but this situation is likely when relying on reactive equipment – we see it all the time. We know reactive safety devices do work, but they only operate after the situation has escalated too far. In a modern world, they just don’t hold up against proactive devices like Airis. They’re good failsafes but shouldn’t that be all they’re used for?
And what about Angie, is she in the same boat?
The student accommodation that Angie lives in has the benefit of being equipped with smart fire safety equipment, so she doesn’t receive all that unwanted attention and change, leaving her to concentrate on making a dent in her thesis. When she steps away from the hob for a minute, Airis’ intelligent detection algorithms notice that the heat is too high and the oil is reaching its smoke point. The alarm sounds before an issue occurs, and Angie is alerted so she can respond. She acknowledges the alarm, turns the heat down and continues to cook. Airis detects her presence and knows that everything is under control again.
Now, if Angie doesn’t respond, Airis recognises the situation is running away with itself and a fire is imminent. Airis cuts the power to the hob long before the flash point of the oil. Crisis averted – no smoke to ventilate, no building evacuations, no stress for the building/accommodation manager, no sirens down in the street, no interrogation from strangers, and no disconnections or loss of independence. Angie can reset the unit and start cooking again when things have cooled down.
Here’s what’s interesting. These cases apply not only to students or elderly residents in sheltered accommodation. They apply to everyone. You and me. Independent living of any sort comes with the same cooking risks and you can benefit from proactive safety too.
What’s more, Airis logs the data in its memory which can then be downloaded at source (we’ll discuss why this is so important later). But that’s not all. In this modern age, you want to see data at the touch of a button from wherever you are in the world, on whatever device you have at your desk or in your pocket. It’s your lucky day, Airis has you covered.
In a smart world, isn’t it best to make smart choices? Mounted on the wall behind the hob, Airis Sense WiFi is the internet-connected model from Unicook. It unlocks all that data so you now have it at your fingertips, wherever you are in the world. No need to physically visit the resident – you can see it all right in front of you. It will even send you SMS and email alerts when an incident occurs so you will know instantly if a resident or loved one has run into difficulty.
The data is a real lifesaver for building managers and for conscientious relatives. It’s without human error, it’s easier to handle, and provides much greater visibility of what’s actually going on, especially if multiple incidents occur. Trends can be seen easily and the appropriate actions taken. It’s precise and it’s accurate, and that’s better for everyone, not just Angie. You can see how often and what times incidents occur.
This is perfect for building managers who need the right information to create an action plan and ensure all residents are safe, especially with the pressures of tightening fire safety legislation and residents’ demands in the wake of Grenfell. It’s perfect for relatives who want to rest assured that their loved ones are safe and can hold on to their independence as long as possible, avoiding the stress of fire service visits and major disruption to their lifestyles.
Airis is also incredibly flexible. It can be connected to telecare services and be configured to send alerts automatically when it acts. Additionally, it can be set to send alerts if it has been triggered more than a certain number of times within a specified time frame, or even if the stove has not been used in a certain amount of time (i.e. they have stopped cooking for themselves). This supplementary data can be used in support of assessments of the resident.
So what does this mean? It becomes more a question of the person’s overall wellbeing, rather than whether or not their independence and right to cook should be taken away from them. That’s a huge step in the right direction. Airis removes all the guess-work, dramatically increases safety and peace of mind, improves data collection, prevents damage, and saves money that would be spent on repairs, care, or meal provision. It’s proactive fire safety, and it does much more than save lives.
So, we’ve looked at David and Angie’s cases in more detail and shown you what the wider consequences are. The life-changing events for David with his potential cooker disconnection, loss of independence, and decline in wellbeing, and Angie’s unobtrusive Airis that helps rather than hinders.
We looked at why the data Airis collects is important. It’s accurate and enables a proactive, constructive approach to addressing any issues that are apparent, and you can access it from anywhere!
If you have questions about Airis and how it can help, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. We’ll be happy to help.
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If you have any questions or if you need advice, we’ll be happy to help.
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