Unfortunately, we live in an age when we have to be more than aware of the places we are, what we do and how and why we visit other countries. Security has become a worldwide issue, politically and practically, but unconsciously we have always lived with the awareness of alarms and their effect on our daily lives.



Try this for an example: close your eyes, in your imagination place yourself in any city in the world. The hustle, the bustle of people going around doing their normal things, working, visiting the theatre, taking the kids to the park - anything. I guarantee while you do any of these things, there is a chance you will hear an alarm. Whether it be a police siren, an ambulance taking a patient to hospital or a fire engine racing to put out a fire.

I also guarantee that apart from hearing it as a natural part of your life, that is precisely what it becomes. It soon gets categorised to our subconscious as part of our normal way of life as sure as crossing the road, or as sure as throwing a ball to one of the kids.

However, alarms in this form only become relevant to us in extreme circumstances. Let's say for example, we have an unfortunate neighbour whose house suddenly catches fire. Emergency services are called and we are then actually listening for the alarm for an indication of when the problem may be solved by the arrival of the fire tender.

Similarly, we may be out one day and see a person who may have been taken ill in the street. People tend to help others in those situations and try to comfort the distressed person until more professional help arrives, usually in the form of an ambulance to transport them to hospital. My obvious point here is that we are listening with great expectancy for the sound of the alarm from that ambulance.

These two instances highlight the opposite feelings we may have for alarms. There is no apparent blasè(c) attitude that we would normally unconsciously feel. This is replaced by a caring attitude with the sound of the alarm reassuring us that positive action is being taken.

Alarms can have other effects as well. I often wonder when in a public building what should be done if an alarm sounded. Is it set off because of imminent danger, because of fire or has it sounded because of the more sinister and now prevalent bomb threat? In either case, it is evident that the general public could be at a loss as to what action to take. We find very little information on the subject in the more public areas and we simply have to rely on staff of the premises being able to monitor the situation quickly and lead us to the safety of some open air aspect outside of the building.

Alarms play an extremely important part in our lives. We rely heavily on being made aware of what is going on. The previously mentioned emergency vehicles can somewhat reassure us that they are available at all times for our assistance, and the comfort of their alarms makes us realise how difficult life would be without them.