Effective evacuation strategies are paramount to ensuring the safety of building occupants.
Jeron Electronic Systems is among those at the forefront of developing Area of Rescue (AOR) solutions tailored for commercial and residential buildings.
These solutions play a critical role in facilitating communication and assistance during emergencies.
Therese Scarlati is the National Account Manager for Area of Rescue Systems at Jeron, bringing 22 years of extensive experience in the fire and security industry.
Her career has spanned various roles in management and multiple divisions of life safety, providing her with comprehensive knowledge of security construction, service, and installation.
In her current position at Jeron, Therese collaborates with integrators, architects and engineers, fire professionals, and Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJs).
She is dedicated to education and awareness for Area of Rescue Systems, emphasizing their importance not only for code compliance but also for ensuring the safety of building occupants, particularly those with mobility challenges.
In this interview, Scarlati delves into the broader challenges and considerations surrounding evacuation processes, with insights from Jeron’s innovative approach to safety.
In 2003, there was a horrible fire in Chicago and 6 people lost their lives when they found themselves trapped in a smoky stairwell when the doors locked behind them.
There were no sprinklers, no two-way communications, and no safe way to communicate their location to emergency personnel.
The ordinance gave high-rises a choice of retrofitting for sprinklers or installing alternative safety features, such as fire-resistant stairwell doors and frames, and one- and two-way voice communication systems.
As of 2013, virtually none of the building owners had opted for sprinklers.
This highlighted the need for Area of Rescue systems.
Jeron was already leading the way in designing and manufacturing communications platforms that have clear, non-blocking audio for many stations across a wide variety of big and small environments.
Jeron’s Pro-Alert™ 480 Area of Rescue System is a two-way communication system, designed specifically to meet the Area of Rescue Assistance communication requirements as defined in the Americans with Disabilities Act.
During an emergency, building occupants can use Pro-Alert to call for assistance from a designated Area of Refuge in high rise buildings and commercial facilities.
The ability to identify where a person is in the building and communicate not only assists the person that is unable to evacuate by themselves but the first responders so that they can assess the needs of the individual(s) and provide the most effective means of evacuation.
Along with superior auditory capabilities each call station is addressable so that the location of the individual is immediately established when the call is answered by the monitoring or 911 center.
Providing communication for first responders also decreases search time for individuals in the building and increases their safety during a fire.
Unlike some of the other systems on the market that require extensive home-run cables from every station, Pro-Alert 480 utilizes a common CAT5 cable bus that daisy-chains from station to station.
This ‘multiplexed’ architecture is easier and less expensive to install than other systems.
Training of on-site staff, first responders, and building occupants is so important because during an emergency, especially fire, there are many variables that are present that can alter how an individual reacts.
Knowing what you will do in an emergency and where to go saves precious minutes that can save lives.
Awareness that there is an always-available, area of rescue two-way communications system in the building for those that have mobility challenges is a key factor since not all buildings have area of rescue systems.
Part of code is to have signage that is illuminated that points to the area of rescue so that the individuals can clearly see (or is in braille) the path to the area of rescue and have instructions how to use the system.
Unfortunately, not all buildings will provide Area of Rescue due to the adoption of code in different states/jurisdictions.
One example is that in Florida they just changed a section in the code for residential buildings which changed what dictates which buildings are required to have Area of Rescue.
There are a lot of moving pieces in each state and jurisdictions that are affecting the adoption and installation of AOR two-way communications systems.
I am very hopeful that as codes are adopted and Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ), General Contractors, Electrical Contractors, Architects/Engineers, and Low Voltage integrators become more familiar with the need for Area of rescue, the ease of installation, and nominal cost of these systems Area of Rescue will be in all new buildings and perhaps retrofitted into existing buildings.
Jeron’s Area of Rescue system can tie into the local fire panel to provide alerts for any issues with the Area of Rescue system.
There are 4 normally open/normally closed contacts on the Pro-Alert 480 main control panel that tie into the fire panel as supervisory signals.
The signals indicate when a call is placed from a call station, if a supervised remote station has failed, if the supervised audio to a remote station has failed, if there is a power supply or battery backup issue, if the PBX out dial circuit has failed, if a local console has failed, or if there is a wiring issue such as a ground fault.
Supervision of the Area of Rescue assures that the system will be functional when needed and any issues that arise can be immediately addressed.
Jeron was the first manufacturer to receive the Underwriters Laboratories UL2525 listing in early 2023.
In February of 2023, UL added OHSA standards to their UL2525 listing.
Jeron’s engineering staff has worked diligently to exceed visual and auditory capabilities for the user and first responders, which helped us when seeking the UL2525 listing.
The key is the clarity of the communications from the person using the system to either the onsite responder, monitoring station, or 911 station.
The visual aspects with which 3 LEDs are required to light (power, call placed, call answered) have been a part of our design for years and is part of the existing codes and requirements.
It is required by almost all states.
For example in Illinois: Illinois building code requires areas of refuge are clearly marked with appropriate signage.
IBC 1011.1 states: Each door providing access to an area of refuge from an adjacent floor area shall be identified by a sign stating: AREA OF REFUGE.
An Area of Refuge in a building provides a 2-hour rated area with the capability to communicate to first responders during a fire or emergency.
Those with mobility impairments can safely wait in these areas until first responders can reach them and safely evacuate them from the building.
Code-required signage points the user to the area, then one-button press connects them to someone on-site or in 30 seconds to an off-site 911 or monitoring station.
One-button press does it all on the end-user side.
Education is one of the main drivers in my role with Jeron.
My outreach includes Architects and Engineers, General Contractors, Electrical Contractors, Integrators, and first responders.
Jeron’s systems are supported by an experienced network of Jeron Security Dealers across the US and Internationally to provide local sales, installation, and 24/7 timely service/support.
Our distributor/dealer network are trained and certified.
This level of local service and support ensures that our customers’ systems are installed and programmed correctly and if anything should go wrong, the systems are back up and running quickly.
In our Technology Center, we hold everything from Fire Marshal Forums with AHJs to hands-on demonstrations.
We also, virtually or in-person, hold training sessions for Jeron’s Security Dealers.
It is always going to be human intervention and action to evacuate and rescue.
Along with human intervention the use of AI cameras and other technologies integrated into fire products will provide another layer to assist first responders in the most efficient and safe way to evacuate multi-story buildings.
Along with recognizing the need to provide a safe area for those with disabilities using Area of Rescue two-way communication systems, it’s also having a concise training of personnel that would be answering the calls from the call stations on site but also assuring that the system is visually inspected.
Per the NFPA code, an annual inspection is required and should be included with the fire system test and inspection.
Currently the NFPA and UL have not written standards on test and inspection.
Jeron works with our integrators and fire professionals to assist in providing guidelines for test and inspections however, the building management should have their own procedures in place to assure the system is always ready to be utilized.
