Chief's Corner Archive
Personal Alert Safety Systems (PASS) Alarms Can Fail at High Temperatures
Posted on February 21, 2006 by Charlie Dickinson, Acting Assistant Administrator, USFA
A very serious problem related to reduced audibility of PASS alarm signals has been brought to the attention of the National Fire Protection Association's (NFPA) Electronic Safety Equipment Committee by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health's (NIOSH) Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program. NIOSH discovered through recent firefighter fatality investigations that exposure to high temperature environments may cause the loudness of the alarm signal to be reduced. This reduction in loudness may cause the signal to become indistinguishable from background noise on the fire ground. If a rapid intervention team (RIT) cannot hear a PASS alarm signal (above fire ground noise), it may diminish their ability to locate and rescue downed firefighters. The PASS alarms that were involved in these investigations were certified as compliant to NFPA 1982, Standard on Personal Alert Safety Systems (PASS) 1998 Edition.
PASS Devices
Initial laboratory testing by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Fire Research Division, as part of the continuing research project on the performance of PASS devices supported by the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), has highlighted that this sound reduction may begin to occur at temperatures as low as 300 F (150 C) and could affect all PASS. Additional work to better characterize the thermal conditions (temperatures and exposure durations) that contribute to alarm signal degradation is still needed.
The Electronic Safety Equipment Committee of the NFPA continues to study the issue in cooperation with NIOSH and NIST and will implement appropriate action.
NFPA has also published additional information regarding the recent NIOSH investigations of PASS failures. Fire departments and other emergency service organizations, as well as firefighters and emergency response personnel, should report any PASS malfunctions and other problems with PASS functioning directly to the certification organization whose certification mark appears on the PASS and by e-mail to the NIOSH–National Personal Protection Laboratory.
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