Jersey General Hospital is widely recognised as the most critical building on the island.

The original fire alarm system was old, had been installed in phases over the decades and was not compliant with modern fire detection standards.

AFM won the tender to replace the system. The challenge was enormous not least because the hospital had to remain fully functioning and able to treat patients throughout the entire installation, commissioning and testing programme.

The eventual design required the creation of two domains because of the sheer size of the new system. AFM’s team of 9 engineers installed a total of 48 fire alarm panels connected together by 6km of fibre optic cables. The number of panels is designed to cope with future alterations to the system as the complex of buildings is re-configured into the Jersey Future Hospital.

Currently, 26 of the panels are operational. These panels, in turn, are controlling 3000 new addressable and 1000 conventional fire alarm devices. A total of 280 new call points (break glass panels) have also been installed.
Finally, AFM’s project manager has designed and commissioned a Winmag computer based fire alarm management system. This allows the hospital engineers to interrogate every panel and configure every device from the comfort of their desk top – as first for Jersey General Hospital and the island.

Practical completion of the 16 month project was achieved on Thursday 14 September – a real milestone. Islanders can now attend the hospital in the knowledge and comfort that it is protected by the most comprehensive fire alarm system in Jersey.