Overview of NIST Efforts to Support Fire Fighter Technologies. Appendix 3.I.
Overview of NIST Efforts to Support Fire Fighter
Technologies. Appendix 3.I.
(1004 K)
Bryner, N. P.
NIST SP 1040; NIST Special Publication 1040; June
2005.
Thermal Imaging Research Needs for First Responders:
Workshop Proceedings. APPENDIX 3.I. December 9-10, 2004,
Gaithersburg, MD, 48-51 pp, 2005.
Keywords:
thermal imaging; evaluation; performance metrics; heat
detection; fire fighting; first responders; infrared
camera; focal plane array; fire fighters; technology
utilization; standards; training; protective clothing;
heat transfer
Abstract:
The goal of the Advanced Fire Service Technologies
(AFST) Program is to enable a shift to an information
rich environment for safer and more effective fire
service operations through new technology, measurement
standards, and training tools. The research currently
sponsored by AFST focuses on fire fighter protective
clothing, tactical decision aids, virtual fire fighter
training, and thermal imaging camera performance
evaluation methods. The fire fighter protective clothing
research includes development of new clothing materials
and heat transfer modeling software that captures heat
and moisture transport and predicts burn injuries
through fire fighter protective clothing. Tactical
decision aids, such as methods by which structural
collapse may be predicted, and building information
systems that provide data to fire fighters en route to a
fire scene, are also under development. Virtual fire
fighter training and visualization software that will
allow a fire fighter to "walk through" a burning
structure is being investigated. Methods of measuring
the performance of thermal imaging cameras used by fire
fighters, based
on the environment in which they are used, are being
studied with the intend of providing the underlying
science to future performance standards.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899