- Author
- Bryner, N. P.
- Title
- Overview of NIST Efforts to Support Fire Fighter Technologies. Appendix 3.I.
- Coporate
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
- Report
- NIST SP 1040; NIST Special Publication 1040, June 2005,
- Book or Conf
- Thermal Imaging Research Needs for First Responders: Workshop Proceedings. APPENDIX 3.I. December 9-10, 2004, Gaithersburg, MD, 48-51 p., 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.