Tuesday tips: What to do when the alarm sounds

It’s jarring, to say the least, when an alarm system goes off. The sirens, the panicky feeling, the sense of urgency. So what DO you do?

First, is it a false alarm? Did you set it off by opening a window or walking past a motion sensor? If that’s the case, walk to your panel and disarm the system. Anytime your alarm sounds, you have 30 seconds to do this–if you cancel the alarm in that time, it is not considered an emergency and you may not receive a call from the Monitronics monitoring center.  Do not disarm if there is a genuine emergency.

Here’s what to do in other situations:

Fire: Get out of your house as quickly as possible. We are going to dispatch the fire department when we get the alarm.

Medical emergency: When you receive a call from the Monitronics monitoring center, we will dispatch the emergency services and stay on the line with you until an ambulance arrives. Our average response time in 2009 was 22.1 seconds, so we’ll be calling or coming over your two-way voice panel quickly.

Burglary: Assess the situation. If you can leave the house, get out and call 911. You can also press the panic button on the alarm and we will dispatch the police immediately.

Carbon monoxide alarm: Leave the premise immediately we will dispatch the fire department.

Home invasion: Press the silent panic button on the alarm panel if you are able. Otherwise, cooperate with the intruder until the responding authorities arrive.