Fire & Life Safety Archive
Traveling Safely
What threats are we under when we travel that don't present themselves every day? SAL LIFRIERI, Protective Countermeasures and Consulting Inc.: Probably...
One Hero Among Many
By Stephanie Silk
It didn't take a phone booth or a batcave for one security officer to transform into a hero just the knowledge, training and instinct he has learned from...
Warning: Crisis Ahead
By Ashley Roe
Disasters are all around us. Last March, an outbreak of tornadoes barreled through downtown Atlanta, catching residents, tourists and businesses off guard...
Popular Demand
By Stephanie Silk
With upwards of 50,000 students, staff and faculty under its purview, the administration at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) takes mass...
Ready To Respond
By Mike Kennedy
Tragedies such as the fatal shootings in February in a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb or last year's deadly shooting rampage at...
Memo To Staff
By Stephanie Silk
Staff and students play a variety of roles in schools and universities, and many of these roles can affect security, for better or worse, according to...
The Genesis Of An Emergency System
Cleveland State University (CSU) is making a name for itself these days, not only as a quality educational institution, but as a national leader in campus...
A Well-Timed Upgrade
For Freeman Health System, expansion was just what the doctor ordered. This 392-bed, not-for-profit, three-hospital system provides comprehensive health...
Napco Photoelectric Smoke Detector
Napco Security Group’s Firewolf photoelectric smoke detectors (FW-2, FW-4) accurately detect any type of fires....
Tackling Risk
BY STEPHANIE SILK
Helmets, pads and gloves are normally on hand at each year's Super Bowl to protect the players and keep the game safe. However, protecting the stadium...
From The Field
EDUCATION California's Shasta Union High School District Reduces Theft and Vandalism With IP Video With recent incidents ranging from fights and vandalism...
No Interruptions
Ten minutes into a video during a film studies lecture, the projector flashes no signal on a blank screen. With 200 students waiting, the professor attempts...
Radiation Research Gives Hope For Explosive Detection
A new type of radiation called T-rays—electromagnetic waves in the far infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum that have a wavelength 500 times longer than visible light—may allow for the development of a new generation of sensors for detecting explosives and poisons.
The research, performed by a team of U.K. and Spanish physicists led in the U.K. by Dr. Stefan Maier from Imperial College London's Department of Physics and Dr. Steve Andrews of the University of Bath, shows that the T-rays can be guided along the surface of a specially designed material, known as a metamaterial. Being able to control T-rays in this way is essential if this type of radiation is to be used in many real-world applications....
Fire Alarm Boxes Becoming Another Technology Casualty
The street corner fire alarm box, a lifeline used when few people had telephones at home to report fires, has become another casualty of technology, replaced by the 9-1-1 emergency system and cell phones.
The bright red and white boxes with peaked "roofs" once dotted street corners throughout the United States. Now, sometime in the next three months, the Village of Lancaster, N.Y., will likely become one of the last suburban municipalities to bid a fond goodbye to the American icon.
According to New York's Buffalo News, if this occurs, the Village of Depew, N.Y., will become the sole remaining suburban holdout in New York's Erie County relying on a fully functioning street box alarm system. Depew's dates back to 1894—the year of the village's incorporation....
Survey Shows Americans Incorrectly Confident About Fire Safety
A nationwide survey conducted by the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) reveals that 79 percent of Americans feel safer from fires at home than in a public building with an additional 9 percent feeling equally safe in both locations.
These results are inconsistent with government statistics that show that home fires outnumber all other building fires by over three to one. At the same time, most fire deaths and injuries occur in the home.
Public buildings are subject to tough fire-safety regulations and inspections, whereas most homes are not. ...
GAO Report Warns Of Campus Reactor Threat
The risks of a terrorist attack on a nuclear reactor at a college campus -- and the potential consequences -- have been underestimated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Congressional auditors say in a report.
According to The New York Times, the report, by the Government Accountability Office, says the commission overruled expert contractors who thought differently, and misrepresented what the contractors had said.
Security requirements at the reactors have changed little since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, according to the auditors, even though many of the reactors still run on enriched uranium, which terrorists could convert into an atomic bomb. In contrast, the rules for civilian power plants have become much stricter, the report said....
NOTIFIER Mass Notification Systems
In the event of a dangerous and life-threatening emergency, NOTIFIER’s mass notification systems broadcast emergency information to everyone in a building, on a campus or in multiple facilities spread across a city, state or the globe. The product line includes offerings that fit a range of facility types and applications, including K-12 schools, high-rise buildings, mass transit hubs, college and university campuses and manufacturing facilities. ...
Smarter BY DESIGN
By Michael Fickes
Afire alarm activates on the third floor of a 36-floor high-rise downtown. Digital signage throughout the building displays alert messages followed by...
Crisis Communication Comes of Age
By Jim Crumbley
Workplace shootings, gang violence, infant kidnappings, inmate escapes, hostage situations, bomb threats, tornados, hurricanes, terrorism hospital security...
Code Pink
At Crouse Hospital, Syracuse, N.Y., where doctors and nurses deliver up to 7,000 babies a year, security is drum tight against baby snatchers. Ten years...
Emergency Notification Not Advancing With Technology, Survey Says
CDW Government Inc. (CDW-G), a source of Information Technology (IT) systems to governments and educators, has announced the findings of its survey on local emergency alert systems. The national survey of U.S. residents found that emergency notification capabilities are not evolving with advances in technology and changing information consumption habits. While wireless subscribers in America are at an all-time high and one billion text messages are sent by U.S. residents daily, local governments still relay information largely via television and radio, which require access to electricity that may not be available during emergencies.
"In a crisis situation, the ability to receive information right away, when traditional power sources may be unavailable, is critical," says Jim Grass, CDW-G senior director of state and local sales. "Television, radio and text messaging all have a role to play in disseminating emergency information, but only text messaging 'pushes' information to citizens wherever they are.”...
Gamewell Conventional Fire Alarm Control Panels
Gamewell’s new Flex Series panels include five base control panels, plus a range of compatible peripheral devices all listed to ANSI/UL 864 9th Edition standards. In addition to two-, four-, five- and 10-zone fire control panels, another 10-zone panel, expandable to 30 zones, is available for building operators who anticipate renovating and expanding their facilities. Panel features include programmable initiating and notification circuits, 80-character LCD interfaces, built-in Form-C relays, DACT communicators and history logs that record up to 256 events. ...
DMP - Burglary Panels with Cancel/Verify Feature
With a DMP panel with Cancel/Verify users can let control center operators know whether to send help or cancel......
Winging It
GE is attempting to replicate the unique properties of butterfly wings those that allow them to shimmer colorfully to determine if they can be applied...
Johnson Controls Video-Based Fire Monitoring System
The IFV-1000 from Johnson Controls is a digital video analytics system suitable for early fire and smoke detection in enterprise facilities. The system integrates with existing CCTV infrastructure. It features image analysis technology that applies algorithms to surveillance camera images to detect events such as flames within and outside a camera’s field-of-view, reflected fire light, anomalies caused by smoke plumes, ambient smoke and intrusion. ...
