Consulting-Specifying Engineer - April 2008 - (Page 22) “ No matter how prepared a campus is, regardless of how well trained and vigilant the members of the emergency response team are, incidents can and will happen that take lives and cause injuries.” Creating worst-case scenarios for each threat is a good way to begin getting a handle on the mass notification challenge a campus is facing. Because no one has a crystal ball, this exercise is highly subjective, yet very necessary, in the mass notification design process. Step 2: Investigate the infrastructure Most campus officials assume they need to start from scratch when it comes to the procuring the hardware and software necessary for mass notification systems. However, many of the pieces are already in place. What generally is missing is an overview of how the campus operates on a daily basis, if these critical systems are interoperable, and how they can be integrated and re-tasked during an emergency to serve a mass notification command and control function. In most cases, four different types of systems already will be installed on a modern campus: life safety (fire, gas, and smoke detection; alarm; and sprinkler systems), security (surveillance, access control, and intrusion monitoring systems), building automation (HVAC), and communications (voice and data systems). Typically, each of the four system categories falls under a separate jurisdiction. For example, the campus police are responsible for providing the security command center, and they oversee the selection and purchase of any type of security system hardware or software. They also may be responsible for the life safety function, or there could be a separate campus fire protection department in charge. Building automation is most often the domain of a facilities management group, while information technology (IT) and communications falls under yet another autonomous group. These groups tend to function separately as a silos. Each has a separate chain of command, along with their own unique objectives, procedures, and dedicated budgets. Ensuring that their systems are compatible with other groups’ systems is not a high priority for any of the groups, and they tend to compete for dollars and human resources. This is not an ideal situation when the objective is to build a seamless, effective, campus-wide mass notification system. That’s why this important investigation step must be taken unilaterally. A designer needs to know which systems can be used as part of the mass notification infrastructure, which must be upgraded or removed, and what new technologies must added. In addition, you’ll want to factor in the creation of a central command center dedicated to integrating all the incoming information and outgoing messages. The security command center, if it exists in proper form, can serve as the central command center for emergency event management. The key to effective management of any emergency situation is having situational awareness of the event. In other words, you need to have visual and informational knowledge of what’s taking place in real time. This is critical in a mass notification process where decisions involving people movement must be made in minutes or seconds, not hours. Step 3: Design and implement the mass notification system Once you’ve completed the investigation step, you now know what improvements or additions must be made to your infrastructure and where these enhancements are most critically required in order to achieve total system integration and interoperability. Since very few campuses can afford to do everything at one time, you’ll want to create a phased implementation plan, complete with budget estimates and detailed specifications for every system. The implementation plan will enable you to compare and obtain competitive bids from leading hardware and software suppliers. Once the bids have been awarded and the construction begun, you’ll no doubt require the services of a security consultant able to provide on-site project and construction management. The consultant should also be qualified to oversee the testing and commissioning of the life safety, security, communications, and IT systems, and be able to assist in obtaining the necessary code approvals. The implementation phase also includes training on the systems. This not only involves the people who operate and maintain the systems, but also the people who populate the campus and must respond properly. The system training should be a part of your overall emergency response training program. Step 4: Create an emergency response plan The emergency response plan is the single most important part of the mass notification process. You’ve identified the threats to your campus, created worst-case scenarios, evaluated your systems, and identified the hardware and software issues you need to address. Now it’s time to create a blueprint for how the mass notification process will function in an actual emergency. The emergency response plan identifies your mass notification response team and assigns responsibilities. It determines what messages will be sent in specific situations, and where people will be instructed to go and by what routes. It details evacuation plans 22 Consulting-Specifying Engineer • APRIL 2008
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.