Working Smoke Detectors, CO Detectors Save Lives

Working Smoke Detectors, CO Detectors Save LivesOn Wednesday February 12th, a woman in her 50s lost her life when a fire broke out in an apartment of a three-family home in Cambridge, Mass. Fire officials determined the cause of the fatal blaze was an electric baseboard heater that may have malfunctioned.

The home fire alarm system (smoke detectors) inside the apartment, as well as throughout the building, had been disconnected or did not have batteries, said Cambridge Fire Chief Gerald R. Reardon.

“A working smoke alarm coupled with an escape plan can double one’s chances of surviving a fire,” he said.

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5 Tips to Protect Your Pet in Emergencies

American Alarm - 5 Tips to Protect Your Pet in EmergenciesAs a leading provider of home alarm systems, we’ve written a lot about things you can do to ensure the safety and security anyone living with you – and, of course, yourself. Everything we do is focused on helping you protect your family and your home in the event of an emergency or natural disaster — but what about your furry, four-legged family members? Don’t forget to take them into consideration when you develop your family’s emergency preparedness plan.

We offer you five tips, some of which are courtesy of The Humane Society of The United States, to protect your pets in emergencies and natural disasters:

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5 Ways to Prevent Credit Card Fraud

American Alarm - 5 Ways to Prevent Credit Card FraudIn an alarming statistic reported by Forbes, 42% of people in the United States have experienced some type of credit card fraud occurring to their account. After the card information has been stolen, an average amount of $5,000 in fraudulent activity occurs before the problem is fixed. Although credit card companies and banks are doing more to prevent this issue, it is, unfortunately, still up to the card holders to do as much as they can to prevent credit fraud.

We recently put together an infographic outlining the strange life of a stolen credit card — today we’d like to discuss our top 5 ways to prevent credit card fraud.

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Business Security Trends for 2014

american-alarm-business-security-trendsThe business security system market will show strong growth in 2014, driven by access management and video, according to James Cook, sales manager for American Alarm.

The Boston Marathon bombings demonstrated the importance of video cameras, as we mention in a recent blog post. Investigators used video from a number of businesses in the Copley Square area to identify Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who are suspected of the bombings.

The need to manage access to buildings via video surveillance systems and alarm systems that include enhanced access control is being driven in large part by the school shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut as well as other schools across the country, Cook says.

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