Emergency Response: When Minutes Count
Part 1: Prepare for Emergencies by Networking with First Responders
Part 2: Silent Partners In Fire Safety
Part 3: Evacuating During A Fire
Silent Partners In Fire Safety
By Naomi Millán, Associate Editor - April 2009
In an emergency, properly maintained facility systems are allies in addressing the situation, while letting seemingly minor things slide adds to the havoc. To fully prepare a facility for an emergency, it is important to make sure the fire and life safety systems are tested and maintained to code, says David Klein, deputy fire marshal with City of Las Vegas Fire and Rescue.
“You don’t want them not to work when you need them,” he says. “There’s no obvious ROI on them, besides a break on insurance, so they tend to be forgotten.”
There are also a lot of passive fire containment features in buildings, such as fire doors, fire walls, and firestopping that should not be compromised, he says. When doing internal improvements, facility executives should be sure fire walls are not being taken down or fire-rated doors cut in half, for example.
