Thursday, April 24, 2014

New Guidance on Emergency Communications Strategies for Buildings

Fire Protection Research Foundation has issued “Guidance Document: Emergency Communication Strategies for Buildings.” The document is derived from a full project report by National Institute of Standards and Technology and was developed to address needs identified by NFPA's Technical Committee for Emergency Communication Systems, which created NFPA 72, National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code.

“While we know that effective communication strategies are critical in the event of a building emergency, there’s been little guidance on how to best communicate to occupants and ensure an effective, safe emergency response,” says Amanda Kimball, a research project manager for the foundation. Along with providing guidelines for the planning, design, installation and use of emergency communications systems, the guidance document addresses ways to test messaging from a comprehension and occupant-response perspective. It also offers sample messaging for five different emergency scenarios.