DHS promotes smart city IoT solutions for first responders

by Projects

The Internet of Things (IoT) is expanding the variety of technical capabilities deployed in the interest of public safety, and smart cities are leveraging IoT data to provide insights and improve operations. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is promoting technology development through its Science and Technology Directorate’s SCITI (pronounced “city”) solutions lab. SCITI stands for Smart City and Internet of Things Innovation.

SCITI innovations promote public safety in urban environments to expand capabilities of first responders, including law enforcement, fire and emergency medical services, and the associated commercial sector.

The initiative focuses on integrating new and existing technologies to serve public safety needs, with emphasis on validation and go-to-market support through industry partners. A streamlined process is aimed at getting new capabilities commercialized and available to users.

Supporting First Responders

The program seeks to provide new capabilities to support first responders and the associated commercial sector in three areas. They are:

Autonomous navigation for indoor Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) to support search and rescue missions in difficult environments.

Intelligent building sensors to be mounted on fixed indoor building features, such as smoke detectors or exit signs. Sensors provide a mechanism to rapidly prioritize areas for search and rescue.

A body-worn interoperable platform (“SmartHub”) that integrates personal network communications with third-party sensors to improve situational awareness.

Collaborations For Development

DHS Science and Technology is leveraging a “commercial first” approach by working with technology innovation companies, government public safety officials, infrastructure owners and private sector investment partners to promote the design, development and operational testing and evaluation of suitability for commercial adoption. The program has been instrumental in developing and commercializing a number of products.

Improving communication is one area of development. For example, Zello, Austin, Texas, provides a push-to-talk smartphone app that is a low-cost, reliable and secure alternative to traditional radios. Wireless System Solutions, Morrisville, North Carolina, has developed end-to-end multi-standard/band wireless network solutions that provide connectivity from the macro cellular network to the end-point gateway and/or sensor.

Emergency Situational Awareness

To provide situational awareness in an emergency, Known Quantity Sensors Inc., Atlanta, offers an IoT edge sensor platform that uses AI-backed, image-based processing to quantify and locate human occupancy.

CommandWear Systems, Vancouver, British Columbia, provides a simple, secure, mobile situational awareness platform that runs on existing smartphones, smartwatches, tablets, laptops and desktop PC. The system enables users to prepare for events and incidents in advance, know where personnel and assets are, communicate with them securely, and then review and analyze a mission after the fact.

Other solutions promote teamwork and collaboration. Mutualink, Wallingford, Connecticut, connect voice, video and information sources so any agency can talk to and share information with partners on-demand, providing instant emergency collaboration, situational awareness and coordination. Coolfire Solutions, St. Louis, Missouri, provides collaboration software that synchronizes data, content and communications to enable people to work together more effectively.

Artificial Intelligence

Providing automation to operate in an emergency, Airgility, College Park, Maryland, provides multi-mission unmanned aerial vehicles that can conduct search and rescue operations or protect the nation’s borders, including onboard artificial intelligence.

Thirteen companies in all were selected in the first phase of the program, and additional companies were added in Phase II. The SCITI solutions lab was created in collaboration with Virginia’s Center for Innovative Technology, TechNexus in Chicago, and Smart City Works venture labs in Washington, D.C.

www.dhs.gov/

AWG, Godiva develop disinfectant system for public spaces

by Products

With the ongoing battle against COVID-19, fire departments are challenged with preventing the spread of the virus by cleaning and disinfecting public spaces. To aid fire departments, IDEX Fire & Safety businesses this month released a new multitool sprayer and cleaning agent induction system.

The internationally diverse IDEX team from AWG in Germany and GODIVA in England joined forces using Microsoft Teams to design and test a reliable, low-cost system that connects to existing fire engines. With creativity and expertise from across the organisation, team members quickly innovated and developed the product in just two months

Godiva provided expertise on the pump, while AWG provided expertise on the eductor pump and the nozzle. The team also asked a biochemist at ThinXXS in Germany to help understand the chemical requirements for the common cleaning agents.

This combination of IDEX expertise led to the rapid development of a system optimised for this solution.

In contrast to the FS100 Portable Disinfectant Spraying System, which was launched last month, the SANISTREET FLEX system mounts on to a fire pump through the attachment of a delivery valve, and enables fire fighters and first responders to disinfect larger outdoor areas.

SANISTREET FLEX system features: 

  • Efficient cleaning with 60 l/min at 7.5 bar
  • Throw distance approx. 8-10 m and spray angle of 25°
  • Suitable for use with water and liquid cleaning agents
  • Retrofit system
  • Compact solution for an easy storage
  • Storz, BI & NH hard anodized couplings
  • Protects your fire pump from risk of corrosions

www.idexcorp.com/

Profab Access: the benefits of bi-directional fire testing

by Projects

The Hackitt Report revealed major concerns regarding the quality assurance of fire doors and the issues surrounding the transparency of information and availability of audit trails with regard to these types of building components.

Here Austin Stone, Technical Director at Profab Access, explores the importance of specifying riser doors that have been bi-directionally fire tested, to not only provide the highest standards of safety and compliance with current building regulations, but to successfully futureproof public sector buildings for years to come.

Following the release of Dame Judith Hackitt’s Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety, the issues regarding fire doors and their consistency of fire-resistance performance was, and remains, a significant concern for the industry.

The report, along with subsequent amendments to Building Regulations Approved Document B (Fire Safety), prompted significant changes to the adequate testing of fire doors, particularly with regard to the way in which these building components are manufactured, tested, installed and maintained.

Focusing on the specification and fire safety of riser doors in particular, the sufficient fire testing of these products is paramount to ensuring the successful prevention of the spread of fire to other parts of the building via the riser shaft. Whilst timber riser doors were traditionally popular among architects and specifiers, concealed steel riser doors offer superior fire performance, whilst also offering a range of enhanced aesthetics and security benefits.

Throughout the specification process, professionals should look to utilise steel riser doors that have been fire tested to BS EN 1634-1:2014+A1:2018 (as outlined in Approved Document B Volume 2) and BS476 part 22. The doors should also comply with BS 476-31.1 for smoke tests, BS8214 for the installation for fire doorsets and BS 9999:2017 for the Code of practice for fire safety in the design, management and use of buildings.

However, if the industry is to drive a cultural shift in the specification of these types of passive fire safety products, architects should look to specify riser doors that have been bi-directionally tested, superseding current industry requirements.

As the riser door is physically tested in both directions, it offers the highest levels of fire safety as professionals can be confident the riser door will withstand exposure to fire and smoke from both directions for the allotted time period. This adequately prevents the spread of fire throughout a multi-storey building as the opportunity for the fire to enter the riser shaft through a riser door located in a corridor and exit through another riser door in a different area or floor of the building is entirely eliminated because both sides of the door have been successfully tested.

Professionals here should look to specify riser doors that have been fire tested by a certified third party, providing a clear audit trail of test evidence that confirms compliance with all relevant regulations by demonstrating the integrity of the riser door for the specified duration. This includes the maintenance of the riser door’s frame, limitation of the spread of fire and the transmission of radiant heat.

For many architects, the configuration of double or triple riser doors in a single unit is a popular choice due to the style of aesthetics they offer over individual riser doors that are spaced at specific intervals. Professionals should here look to work with a manufacturer that offers bi-directional fire testing across a whole suite of configurations and complementary riser door products, successfully meeting the visual requirements of each individual project, without having to compromise on the fire safety of these elements.

Whilst bi-directional fire testing isn’t a current industry requirement, this proficient approach to fire safety also futureproofs the building as the architect has gone above and beyond the current specification to meet the requirements and regulations of the future.

This step change in the specification of riser doors must be implemented from the very initial stages and, in order to be successful, professionals should choose riser doors that are supported by a wide range of BIM and CAD files, along with comprehensive fire test certifications. This will aid the specification process and streamline the initial design stages, whilst also providing a clear audit trail of evidence and subsequent due diligence, supporting Dame Hackitt’s ‘Golden Thread’ of true transparency and accountability.

The test certifications play a vital role in helping architects facilitate the ‘golden thread’ of information, which seeks to extend fire safety best practice beyond fire professionals into wider society, successfully communicating key information about a building and the components utilised throughout its construction.

As Dame Hackitt encourages the industry not to wait for legal changes to start the process of behavioural change with regard to fire safety within commercial and residential buildings, professionals within the public sector can continue to drive this shift change through the specification of bi-directionally fire tested riser doors.

For further information on Profab Access, visit www.profabaccess.com

Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Services help drivers return to the road after lockdown

by Passive

Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Services say they have had to change their road safety education all the way through. They have now issued some hints, tips, videos and advice for people who are looking to return to driving after a couple of months off.

As lockdown eases, they want people to remember the importance of road safety and how behave while driving.

Road Safety Manager Christine Sharma said: “Since lockdown, we have had to completely rethink how we deliver road safety education. There has been a dramatic decrease in the number of road traffic collisions during the pandemic. Our worry is that we will see more and more incidents now we’re moving to the ‘new normal’. We’re encouraging all drivers to take a bit of time online – going through the advice and making sure that they’re mentally prepared to be back on the roads.”

This includes knowing the ‘fatal four’ main reasons for loss of life in road traffic collisions:

  • Use of mobile phones
  • Non-use of seatbelts
  • Excessive speed
  • Drink or drug driving

Advice also includes knowing how to use the FLOWER acronym to keep your car maintained.

In addition, they have created three new digital resources to help as many people as possible:

  • The first leaflet is for all drivers, and includes the importance of checking your vehicle’s roadworthiness, especially if affected by the current MOT exemption.
  • Leaflet two is aimed at older drivers, showing how they can prepare physically and mentally to return to the road.
  • Leaflet three addresses newly qualified drivers who won’t have been able to build up their skills and confidence since lockdown, and also looks at peer pressure.

London Fire Brigade warns of potential spike in fires as pubs re-open to public

by Safety

The London Fire Brigade is warning of a possible spike in fires due to concerns that people may drink to excess as pubs, bars and restaurants open their doors to the public for the first time in three months.

Since the lockdown, the amount of fires where alcohol was cited as an impairment has dropped by a quarter. While cooking remains a leading cause of alcohol-related fires, there has been a 37% reduction in the number of fires caused by cooking under the influence, which the Brigade believes could be attributed to the closure of London’s pubs.

With around one-in-three people who died in a fire last year having alcohol in their system, there’s a concern that the long-awaited re-opening of pubs could result in a sudden surge in devastating fires.

Even at the best of times, cooking can be hard to manage and when someone has been drinking alcohol, the risk of having an accident increases as a person’s co-ordination decreases.

Paul Jennings, the London Fire Brigade’s assistant commissioner for fire safety, said: “As the lockdown eases, we understand that people are excited for the re-opening of pubs, bars and restaurants after months of closure, but we urge them to drink responsibly. Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol can seriously impair someone’s judgements and can put them at a very real risk of having an accident. With more fires likely to start in the kitchen than any other room in the home, it’s best for people to stay away from cooking if they’ve had a few drinks.”

The NHS has stated that, after drinking just four-to-six units of alcohol (ie the equivalent of around just two standard glasses of wine), the part of a person’s brain associated with judgement and decision-making is affected, resulting in more reckless behaviour and affecting their reaction time.

NVFC partners with DRONERESPONDERS to help America’s Volunteer Fire and Emergency Services

by Americas - Projects

The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC), the non-profit membership association representing the interests of the volunteer fire, EMS, and rescue services, has announced a partnership with DRONERESPONDERS – the world’s fastest growing program supporting public safety – to help coordinate, cooperate, and co-promote efforts to enhance the use of drones in the pursuit of public safety.

Drone Operations

The memorandum of understanding outlines the key initiatives under which the NVFC and DRONERESPONDERS will collaborate together to assist America’s volunteer fire, EMS, and rescue services in adopting and perfecting the use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to help save lives.

“Our members are increasingly interested in learning more about how they can use drones to enhance their ability to serve the public,” said Steve Hirsch, chair of the NVFC. “At the same time, we are also hearing concerns from members about privately operated drones interfering with their operations. Our partnership with DRONERESPONDERS will focus on both of these issues, providing information to the volunteer emergency services about drone operations, and educating public safety and the public in general about the benefits and challenges associated with drone use at emergency scenes.”

Aerial First Responders

The partnership works towards the common goal of enhancing public safety and furthering the capabilities of emergency responders. DRONERESPONDERS was created to unite aerial first responders, emergency managers, and search and rescue specialists to maximize drone operations for public safety. With volunteers comprising 65 percent of the nation’s fire service, it is important to educate this segment of the emergency responder community on this growing technology. It could also benefit departments struggling to meet staffing needs by helping them be more effective and efficient in their operations.

“Volunteer firefighters are the backbone of our nation’s fire service, providing life-safety services across most smaller towns and rural communities in the U.S.,” said Charles Werner, director of DRONERESPONDERS and retired fire chief from Charlottesville, VA. “Drones represent an amazing new capability to help these departments conduct a wide-array of operations, ranging from search and rescue missions to structure fires to HAZMAT incidents.”

Drones For Good

Werner says DRONERESPONDERS and the NVFC will work together to provide resources to help volunteer fire departments adopt and implement Drones For Good™, a program designed to utilise unmanned aviation capabilities in disaster response.