Fire / Life Safety


Program Ensures Medicine Delivery During Health Emergencies

Health care organizations involved in the manufacturing, distribution and dispensing of pharmaceutical products recently announced a program to support continued delivery of medicines during a severe public health emergency.

Over and Out

THE world has changed over the past decade, and emergency preparedness and response must change, as well. Historically, disasters—either manmade or natural—affected only the relatively small number of people directly involved in an event. Today, with organizations operating in a global economy, private companies and governments may be affected by a disaster anywhere in the world.

Right on Target

INTELLIGENT, spot laser smoke detectors perform two distinct functions in a fire-protection system. Capable of sensitivities 100 times greater than standard smoke detectors, spot laser units respond to incipient fire conditions as low as .02 percent-per-foot obscuration. Also, laser smoke detectors, functioning like standard smoke detectors, go into full alarm mode, activating a building’s fire-alarm or fire-suppression system if higher thresholds—2 percent-per-foot obscuration—of smoke are detected.

Hearing Danger

TODAY'S fire alarm control panels are highly sophisticated systems that use innovative smoke and heat sensing technologies to deliver a rapid, intelligent response to fire emergencies. When activated, a fire alarm system is capable of performing hundreds of preprogrammed action sequences within a fraction of a second. Regardless of how technologically advanced a fire alarm control panel is its primary purpose is very simple—to save lives. Fire alarm systems notify building occupants that a fire emergency exists in the building.

On Alert

SECURING the flow of oil from offshore platforms, land-based drilling rigs and pumping stations across miles of pipeline and infrastructure is a top priority for the government and the petroleum industry.

Straight Talk

POLITICAL party officials are fond of telling the public they have a "big tent." That is, their programs are big enough to cover a wide range of interests. In the past few years, the fire alarm industry has actually been delivering on that same promise.



Betting the House

After returning from a business trip earlier this week, I undertook the all too familiar task of sorting through mail, newspapers and magazines that had accumulated during my absence. Among the articles were a number of stories from different parts of the country that reported about local officials having ordered evacuations of neighborhoods because of the release of toxic gases. The largest incident, in North Carolina, required 17,000 residents to evacuate their homes -- from a town of 28,000. The residents were ordered out because of a fire at an industrial site, a hazardous waste business that housed a variety of volatile chemicals, including chlorine. These toxic releases were not related to acts of terrorism, but do highlight the inherent danger of living near chemical facilities

A Nose for Security

FOR the past 15 years, the global terrorist threat has manifested itself through many different targets and methods.

Sensing a Change

Cracking the Codes

A leading detector manufacturer recently recalled smoke/heat detectors that had been manufactured over a period of several months last year.

Moving in the Right Direction

OREGON State University has made fire and life safety a real priority.

Cracking the Code

ONE of the top attributes that building owners, managers and electrical contractors look for when choosing fire notification devices is compliance with local, state and federal building codes, which are created by organizations such as the International Code Council and the National Fire Protection Association.

Focus on Reno

MAJOR media outlets focused on Reno, Nev., on June 12, when family court judge Chuck Weller, 53, was critically wounded by a single, sniper bullet from the third story of a parking garage more than 300 feet away from his courthouse office.

Shaping-Up Surveillance

ALTHOUGH smoke detection in homes and commercial buildings has been in use since the 1960s, there have been few significant advancements in the technology until recently.

A Rapid Response

WHETHER it's an earthquake in Los Angeles, a tidal wave in New York or a terrorist attack in Washington, D.C., the only way first responders can truly be effective is by leveraging a command center solution that ties together disparate public and private security systems into an east-to-use, yet powerful solution.

The Last Word

WHEN a fire alarm goes off, everyone needs to listen.

Industry Perspective

FIRE and life safety are as much a part of security as any one device in the industry. The fact of the matter is the fire and life safety industry is an early-warning activity that protects people, property and business interests.

Industry@Work

THE NBFAA shook things up a little at the recent ISC West show. All of a sudden, there was a controversy going on. What was it about? The association proposed a name change. The National Burglar and Fire Alarm Association looked to change its name to the Electronic Life Safety and Systems Association.

Featured

New Products

  • FEP GameChanger

    FEP GameChanger

    Paige Datacom Solutions Introduces Important and Innovative Cabling Products GameChanger Cable, a proven and patented solution that significantly exceeds the reach of traditional category cable will now have a FEP/FEP construction.

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.”

  • PE80 Series

    PE80 Series by SARGENT / ED4000/PED5000 Series by Corbin Russwin

    ASSA ABLOY, a global leader in access solutions, has announced the launch of two next generation exit devices from long-standing leaders in the premium exit device market: the PE80 Series by SARGENT and the PED4000/PED5000 Series by Corbin Russwin. These new exit devices boast industry-first features that are specifically designed to provide enhanced safety, security and convenience, setting new standards for exit solutions. The SARGENT PE80 and Corbin Russwin PED4000/PED5000 Series exit devices are engineered to meet the ever-evolving needs of modern buildings. Featuring the high strength, security and durability that ASSA ABLOY is known for, the new exit devices deliver several innovative, industry-first features in addition to elegant design finishes for every opening.