How to use a personal alarm
Updated: 20.10.2026
You have just opened the packet, and the listing only said the alarm was easy. How to use a personal alarm is a short sequence you can rehearse before you need it. The unit has to be in a free hand, you start it on purpose, you move towards other people, and you never hold it against an ear. The [pocket alarm comparison](/hub/burglar-protection/pocket-alarm) holds the twelve amazon.co.uk listings and their prices. This page is the sequence for a pull-pin or button siren. The noise buys seconds. It does not call 999, and it does not guarantee that anyone will come.
You have just opened the packet, and the listing only said the alarm was easy. How to use a personal alarm is a short sequence you can rehearse before you need it.
You have just opened the packet, and the listing only said the alarm was easy. How to use a personal alarm is a short sequence you can rehearse before you need it. The unit has to be in a free hand, you start it on purpose, you move towards other people, and you never hold it against an ear. The pocket alarm comparison holds the twelve amazon.co.uk listings and their prices. This page is the sequence for a pull-pin or button siren. The noise buys seconds. It does not call 999, and it does not guarantee that anyone will come.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | How it starts | How it stops | Light | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Mosaic Alarm Mosaic Alarm PA98CH | Pull pin | Reseat the pin | Torch, strobe | 9.6 | about £19.99 | View offer |
| Alternative |  Vantamo Vantamo ALARM01 | Touch | Not a pull pin | Strobe | 9.2 | about £17.99 | View offer |
| Best value |  Hion Hion JBQ-Pink-2 | Pin or double-press | Learn the off press | Torch | 9.2 | about £6.78 | View offer |
On this page
Carry it where the free hand can reach
A pocket alarm only works if your free hand can find it without a search. West Yorkshire Police’s student advice, used here for that carry line, says to keep a personal attack alarm in your hand. The campus route sits on the pocket alarm for students page. A clip on a bag strap, a belt, or a lanyard can work if one tug or one press is enough. A zipped backpack pocket fails.
Headphones and a long call hide the street. Plan the way home before you leave. A Powbee review said the pin needed both hands. If that is your unit, practise the pull with the other hand occupied. Vantamo’s specification only says Touch, so do not invent a pin and hunt for it in the dark.
Set it off, then leave
The Suzy Lamplugh Trust’s sequence is specific. Hold the alarm close to the person who is threatening you, set it off, drop it, and move towards people. Shout a clear instruction such as “Call the police”. A continuous tone is harder to dismiss than a pulsing beep, and the sound may still not bring help if nobody is near. Dropping the unit keeps the noise at the spot while you leave.
Powbee, Fauxomor, SUNMAY, and the Mosaic models use a pull pin. Hion’s bullet allows a pin or a double-press. TECKNET’s listing uses a double-click. Reviewers of the Mosaic Alarm PA98CH call the pin stiff, so find that out in a rehearsal. If you are followed, start it, move towards a lit place, and do not turn back for the alarm. Ring 999 when you can safely use the phone. The alarm does not place that call.
How to stop it and how to test it
On a pull-pin alarm you put the pin back in the socket. Mosaic Alarm PA98CH reviews call that fiddly, so try it at home with the unit pointed away. Hion reviewers were unsure how to switch the sound off. Covering the speaker dulls a test. It is not a substitute for the pin, and it puts the sound next to your ear.
The Health and Safety Executive sets a peak limit of 140 dB(C) at the ear for workers under the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005. That is workplace law, not a test of these listings, and we have not measured them. Take the alarm outside, point it away, start it for about a second, and stop it. If it is silent, it is not ready.
The sequence to rehearse
If the other hand is full and you cannot start the alarm, it is not ready, whatever the decibel line says. If you can start it, the order is sound, drop, move towards people, and shout a job a bystander can do. Ring 999 when you can use the phone safely. Test that pull or button once outdoors, pointed away, before you treat the packet as something you can use.
Common questions
How do I set off a pull-pin alarm?
Grip the body, pull the pin clear with one hand, and let it sound. Powbee, Fauxomor, SUNMAY, and the Mosaic listings use that pin. One Powbee review needed both hands, and the PA98CH pin is stiff. Hion also offers a double-press. Vantamo’s specification only says Touch, so do not assume a pin is there.
How do I stop the noise?
Put the pin back in the socket on a pull-pin model, and learn the off press on a button model before you need it. Hion reviewers were not sure how to switch theirs off. Mosaic Alarm PA98CH reviews say the pin is fiddly to reseat. Covering the speaker, which some buyers mention, only muffles a test and holds the sound near your ear. Stop it properly, then move the unit away from people.
Should I throw the alarm or keep hold of it?
The Suzy Lamplugh Trust says to set it off, drop it, and leave towards a busy place. Dropping it leaves the noise behind you while you move. Do not go back for the unit until you are with other people.
What should I shout when it goes off?
Shout a specific instruction, such as “Call the police”. The Trust uses that example because a bystander needs a job, not a scream they can walk past. A continuous siren is harder to ignore than a pulsing beep, and it still may not bring help if the street is empty. The shout does not replace a 999 call when you can make one safely.
How do I test a 130 dB alarm without hurting my ears?
Take it outdoors, point it away, start it for about a second, and stop it. Do not hold it to an ear or beside a child. The 140 dB(C) peak limit is a workplace rule, not a test of these listings, and we have not measured the claims. A short check tells you the pin works and the battery is alive.
When do I ring 999?
Ring 999 when you need the police and you can use the phone safely. The pocket alarm does not make that call, and it does not contact a monitoring centre. If you are still with the person who threatened you, start the siren, drop it, and leave first. The call comes when you can make it without staying to watch.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources and amazon.co.uk listings, last checked on 19.10.2026.
- Suzy Lamplugh Trust: personal safety out and about (retrieved 19.10.2026)
- Suzy Lamplugh Trust: students and personal safety (retrieved 19.10.2026)
- Ask the Police Q589 (retrieved 19.10.2026)
- Firearms Act 1968, section 5 (retrieved 19.10.2026)
- Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008, section 76 (retrieved 19.10.2026)
- HSE: noise exposure for employers (retrieved 19.10.2026)
- Secured by Design: standards explained (retrieved 19.10.2026)
- West Yorkshire Police: student personal safety (retrieved 19.10.2026)
- amazon.co.uk, Vantamo ALARM01 listing (retrieved 19.10.2026)