Unless otherwise notified, never assume that a fire alarm sounding is a false alarm. Fire Department and state regulations require evacuation of a building when the fire alarm sounds. The fire alarms may "time out" or be reset, however evacuation is still mandatory. Fire Department personnel will make the decision to allow persons to re-enter the building. To find the emergency exits for your facility, follow the red lighted EXIT signs displayed in all hallways.

Use the following guidelines if a fire alarm sounds:

Do not panic. In an orderly manner, walk to the nearest FIRE EXIT and go to the parking lot or back of the building. If you are not on the ground floor, head for the nearest stairwell. Never use an elevator during an emergency. In addition, do not use revolving doors as they can jam with people and are slower than the exit doors. It is recommended that the Exit Doors to the side of the revolving doors be used.

Do not block the driveway or try to leave in your car. Remember, the Fire Department will be arriving within minutes and will need an unobstructed path to the building.

Gather with employees in your group, so it is easier to determine whether anyone is missing. Managers, take a roll call, if necessary.

Wait for instructions from the Fire Department about when it is safe to re-enter the building.

Fire codes require that corridor doors always open toward an exit. You can always tell whether you are moving toward an exit by the way the door opens. If you must pull the door, you are going the wrong way.

Never use an elevator. The building could lose its power, and you could be trapped. Always use stairwells instead.

At the Westwood Executive Center, a series of audible horns and visual blinking lights will notify all occupants that a building fire emergency has been detected. This pre-alert signal (four sequences of four beeps) will be immediately followed by a digitized voice message over the public address system:

"Attention please: The signal tone you have just heard indicates a report of an emergency in this building. If your floor evacuation signal sounds AFTER this message, WALK TO THE NEAREST STAIRWAY AND LEAVE THE BUILDING.

After the voice message, a ***SLOW WHOOP ALARM*** will sound on the AFFECTED floor, and the floor above and below the affected floor, indicating that evacuation should begin immediately. All other floors will receive a flashing fire light alerting people to begin exiting the building.

In the event of a fire that affects all floors, a BUILDING GENERAL EVACUATION ALARM will be sounded. The ***SLOW WHOOP ALARM*** will indicate that, at this time, ALL OCCUPANTS are to leave the building via the nearest stairway. Doors to the stairways are located in the center of the building and on either side of the building.