My 92 yr old mother lives in an Independent Living Facility in Missouri. Last night, fire engine sirens woke my mother up. She got dressed, went out to the hall, didn't see anyone else, looked downstairs, again, no was around. The sirens stopped and she went back to sleep. My concern: The facility recently changed their policy of having a husband and wife manager team live onsite, to one where all staff leave the facility at 9 p.m. The residents are provided with a life-alert type thing in case of a personal emergency, but what happens when/if there is an emergency like a fire? How are the residents supposed to know about it, or know what to do about it? Mom doesn't want me to talk to the management so as not to be a 'trouble-maker', but I am now very worried about everyone's safety. She likes it there, and moving is not an option at this point. Any suggestions or advise? I didn't even know that everyone leaves at night until this happened.
One time my Dad was at the ER and was coming back to his apartment around 10 pm. I had called the front desk to ask how will we get back into the building, and she said that So & So will leave the front door open for you. And that person was the resident.
I know in my Dad's Independent Living there are fire alarms in each apartment [they ring VERY LOUD] and the staff has fire drills for the residents so they know where to go.
Some times if an ambulance is called, the fire house will also send over a fire truck if there is one available... that's a lot of sirens and noise.
I would think someone would be on duty in case there was an emergency, unless it's a small town and the fire department has a key to the building.