Alerts firefighters to the risk of flashover, provides emergency location of immobilised firefighters and enhances warning communication between comrades
Protection for firefighters in flashover situations is improved by the launch of a unique warning system developed by IntelliMon, the new name in Intelligent Monitoring Systems. FiRST™ is a personal protection system which detects and predicts rapid rises in temperature that precede a flashover in a confined space.
The new alarm unit was launched on Wednesday 21st September by IntelliMon at the Emergency Services Show held in Birmingham, UK.
FiRST™ uses artificial intelligence to detect and predict the characteristic changes in temperature associated with a flashover and creates an audible and visual alarm which warns both the individual fire fighter and nearby comrades. The visual warning changes from green to amber as the threat is detected and goes to red when the threat is imminent. The audible warning is in excess of 90dB and is distinctly different to the accepted man down alarm in established distress signal units. The warning can provide up to 30 seconds advance warning to evacuate the location or to take mitigating action.
The system is designed to integrate with a wide range of breathing apparatus and is powered by the BA’s battery set. As part of the integration, if the facility is available, the warnings can be displayed on the face mask of suitable equipment with its simple traffic light display.
FiRST™ can also aid rapid intervention rescue teams searching for fallen firefighters. Included in the unit is an RFID chip, which is activated when the unit is powered up. Using a hand-held RFID scanner, rescue crews are able to locate a man down much quicker, especially in areas of low visibility, as the scanner will detect the RFID chip and point the rescue crew to the location of the man-down.
The intelligent monitoring systems built into the lightweight, yet rugged, FiRST™ unit continually processes and updates temperature data, notifying the operator of critical changes through both the visual and audible warnings. This data can also be fed to a computer through established radio telemetry for command and control, and post-incident analysis.
For more information please visit www.intellimon.co.uk
