The International Association of Fire Chiefs, in coordination with the Central Station Alarm Association Board of Directors, recently submitted a number of proposals to the National Fire Protection Association to modernize the NFPA Life Safety Code and help reduce false dispatches. The intent of the proposals is to provide solutions to the problems caused by the number of false alarms in commercial facilities to which fire departments respond annually.
During Christmas week, the Senate approved by unanimous consent to send HR 5470 to the President for his approval which he gave on December 28 by signing the bill. HR 5470 excludes “an external power supply for certain security or life safety alarms and surveillance system components from the appliation of certain energy efficiency standards under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act.”
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has announced that the application period for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) programs Fire Prevention and Safety (FP&S) grants opened on January 3 and will close February 4.
The retail environment is truly changing, but when it comes to fire systems, a retrofit might be the best upgrade and possibly the best solution. We wanted to know more about retail activities combined with fire protection, so we sat down with Richard Connor, a product manager at NOTIFIER, to find out more.
The ability to provide real-time information to all building occupants or personnel in the vicinity of a building during emergency situations has become a critical concern for those who manage and safeguard facilities and their occupants.
With an international research grant from the Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), a team of engineers from the University of Missouri and the University of Sydney in Australia is working to develop a blast-resistant glass that is lighter, thinner, and colorless, yet tough enough to withstand the force of an explosion, earthquake or hurricanes winds.
The company's central station operators are now certified as being proficient in communications with property owners and first responders.
Fire alarm/mass notification systems are available to local and national entities through the General Services Administration.
Lexus of North Miami is a Florida-based, high-end auto retailer offering an assortment of elaborate amenities intended to support the lifestyle of the dealership’s patrons. Built and owned by the Craig Zinn Automotive Group of Hollywood, the five-story, 1.2-million square- foot facility has an estimated construction value of more than $70 million. To protect this massive complex, its occupants and costly inventory, Gamewell- FCI Engineered Systems distributor LifeSafety Management Inc. of Greenacres, Fla., was awarded the job of installing a fully integrated fire alarm and emergency voice/alarm communication system.
- By Beth Welch
- Nov 01, 2010
Collaboration is an essential feature of all office environments. However, what happens when your office is not in a cubicle, but rather in an emergency operations center that sprung up amidst the tremendous devastation of a hurricane, tsunami or battlefield? What tools do you need when your decisions are guided not by the eight-hour workday but by the minutes or seconds that remain before your team is to be deployed?
- By Jeff Schneider
- Nov 01, 2010
According to a recent survey among 1,004 adults commissioned by the nonprofit National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and conducted by Harris Interactive by telephone in September, Americans continue to have misunderstandings about smoke alarms, including how many they need in their homes, and how often they should be tested and replaced.
The David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have been selected by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate to help establish guidelines for the health and safety of firefighters in the field.
Security Products magazine, the only integrated product magazine reaching the entire security market, announced the winners of its 2010 New Product of the Year Award at the publication’s premiere Virtual Event today.
Through the eyes of a safety professional, the bucolic scene on a college campus is a complex set of issues that need to be addressed in an emergency. That’s why Loyola University Chicago started to look into employing an electronic pre-plan for its entire campus.
- By David Howorka
- Sep 01, 2010
System Sensor has updated its Carbon Monoxide Online Training course with new voiceover options, appealing and informative visuals, and increased interactivity to provide users the carbon monoxide information they need at a time and place that is most convenient for them.
For 18 horrific hours on April 3, 1974, the largest and most cataclysmic tornado on record for a single 24-hour period took North America by storm. Actually, it was 148 tornadoes, which spun through and sacked 13 states and one Canadian province, ravaging some 900 square miles and killing 148 people.
AtHoc Inc., provider of network-centric emergency mass notification systems, recently announced that the United States Army Garrison Walter Reed and Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) will deploy its AtHoc IWSAlerts system to help alert personnel in the event of an emergency and to rapidly communicate mission-critical information.
Since January 1 the CPTC has tracked 1,100 civilians treated for smoke inhalation, 413 smoke inhalation deaths, and 125 firefighters who were transported for smoke inhalation treatment. Contrary to popular belief, whether a civilian or a firefighter, smoke inhalation isn't a minor injury -- it's deadly.
Silent Knight by Honeywell recently introduced an IP communicator designed to enable the transmission of fire alarm system information to a central monitoring station via any standard IP line. By sharing a facility's existing IP line, the IP communicator eliminates the cost of two phone lines for fire alarm communications and monitoring. In the case of one New York retail establishment, this resulted in a savings of nearly $800 a year.
An impressive array of fire detectors, sensors, protective apparel, gas monitors, and a variety of other fire protection products were on display on the NFPA Expo show floor. A wide range of companies were on hand to show their latest and greatest offerings.