Hearing Danger

Audible exit technology sets tone for life safety at Seeing Eye School

• By Jayson Kneen
• Apr 02, 2007

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.

In the cases where the fire alarm panel includes an emergency voice evacuation system, occupants can be provided with detailed evacuation instructions based on location and proximity to the emergency. Still, in an emergency situation, timely evacuation can be challenging. Fire alarm systems use a combination of audible and visual features to notify building occupants of an emergency. In addition, visual queues—such as exit signs—are used to guide occupants to the nearest exit. Exit signs work well in most applications, but in a fire emergency, signs can become obstructed and difficult to see because of smoke. signs are passive and require people to find the exit, which is increasingly difficult if occupants are unfamiliar with the building layout and location of emergency egress routes. Factor in smoke that accompanies a fire, and occupants can easily become disoriented or lost in the facility. For people with visual impairments, this is an even bigger issue.

Visually impaired people are unable to follow exit markings or signage, rendering the devices virtually ineffective. Finding an alternative to using traditional exit signs and egress markings was a challenge facing Bud Liptak, director of facilities at The Seeing Eye?, North America’s premier guide dog school. Liptak found the answer in an audible exit technology from NOTIFIER—ONYX®ExitPoint™.

Helping the Blind
Since 1929, The Seeing Eye in Morristown, N.J., has matched nearly 14,000 specially bred and trained dogs with blind men and women from across the United States and Canada. In pursuit of its philanthropic mission to help them achieve greater independence, the organization teaches dogs to guide blind people. Not only does the school instruct the blind in the proper use and care of dogs, it also breeds and raises the dogs, teaches instructors the science and technique of training dogs and educates the public on how guide dogs enable the blind to live independently. The school is entirely unique—only dogs trained at The Seeing Eye can accurately be called Seeing Eye dogs.

The school is unique and requires a fire alarm system with the flexibility to address the special needs of its occupants. That’s why The Seeing Eye turned to NOTIFIER and its local engineered systems distributor, United Fire Protection, for a new system. Although The Seeing Eye had used the distributor for past projects, Liptak had recently learned of the evacuation guidance system that addressed the needs of blind students.

Frank Savino, president and CEO of United Fire Protection, helped bring the technology to Liptak’s attention.

“About a year ago, I saw a demonstration of the notification device, and it just clicked with me. The Seeing Eye was an obvious candidate for this technology,” Savino said.

Savino recommended to Liptak a new audible exit technology that supplements visual exit markings like emergency lighting, signage and photoluminescent guidance strips with interactive auditory guidance. Capable of reducing evacuation times up to 75 percent, the system uses varying tones and intensities to provide directional cues that don’t conflict with traditional devices such as horns and bells. ExitPoint emits four different field-selectable sound pulse patterns to help direct occupants to egress pathways and building exits. It clearly defines an immediate escape route, especially for those without sight.

Audible Signal
Installed at building exits or along egress routes, the system is a compact sounder that produces broadband noise, acting as an audible exit sign. ExitPoint is triggered by a building’s fire alarm control panel—it guides building occupants towards the exits. Using changes in pitch—a descending tone sound that goes from a high to low pitch—ExitPoint can direct the students on upper floors to the ground-floor exits.

“Rich Fischer from NOTIFIER gave us a presentation, and everyone at the school was on board right from the start,” Liptak said. “We knew we wanted to upgrade our system, and this system certainly fit the bill.”

The system has been installed throughout the entire administration building and has received nothing but favorable reviews from students, teachers, the administration and local fire officials.

To meet the budgetary needs of the non-profit institution, NOTIFIER donated the new equipment to the school and UFP designed and installed the system at no charge. Both the design and installation phases went smoothly. UFP was able to integrate the product into the existing system, completing the installation in one week during the school’s summer break.

An Easy Fit
“Part of the beauty of the system is that it can be easily retrofitted to existing notification circuits,” Savino said. “This makes for fast installation. Also, the system draws an extremely low amount of power due to the absence of strobes and other visual components. In most cases, it can be connected directly to existing notification circuits without any additional wiring. However, consideration for power and load needs should always be evaluated.”

Savino and Liptak also received help from NOTIFIER throughout installation and ramp-up period.

“Company officials took time to meet directly with us, and The Seeing Eye people explained how the technology works and provided clear demonstrations to everyone. From what we hear, the system has been working without a hitch,” Savino said.

After installing the new technology, Liptak said the school’s students appreciate the new upgrade.

“We are very excited to be pioneers in our field once again with this important life safety upgrade at our facility. In addition to the benefits of an auditory-based system, we have also found the ExitPoint to be extremely reliable. Our students find the ExitPoint system to be extremely intuitive,” Liptak said. “Usually when a class first enters the building, we hold an orientation with a quick fire drill to help students get their bearings in the building. We hold these practice drills about once a month when a new class of students arrives.”

Thanks to the ease of use and the increased safety brought to students, there also are plans for expansion beyond the main campus.

“We have a downtown lounge in Morristown where students can relax while classmates are in training,” Liptak said. “We’re upgrading the lounge in the coming months and are encouraging the landlord to install the system.”