This Stars and Stripes video shows U.S. Navy firefighters from Naval Support Activity Bahrain putting a new fire trainer at the Bahrain international airport to the test, while getting their rookie firefighters much needed live-fire training. The Navy plans to install more fire trainers at the site and turn a plot of land adjacent to the runway into a fire training complex. Story at http://www.stripes.com/1.269647.
NIST develops tests for evaluating and comparing capabilities of emergency-response robots. More than 100 such robots have run the gauntlet of standardized challenges at the NIST test facility in Gaithersburg, Md.
Technology will increasingly provide NFPA an opportunity to share safety information with authorities around the world. For example, Brazilian authorities reached out to NFPA last year following the fatal Kiss Nightclub fire. That fire bore an uncanny resemblance to 2003's The Station nightclub fire in Rhode Island. Learn more about NFPA President Jim Shannon's look ahead to 2014 at http://www.nfpa.org/2014preview.
Sponsored by National Fire Protection Association
To ensure that the tunnel walls are protected in the case of a fire, they have been treated with special fire protection mortar because temperatures exceeding around 300 degrees Celsius lead to the concrete crumbling, and when concrete is exposed to temperatures above 1,000 degree Celsius it loses its load-bearing capacity altogether and the tunnel collapses. The MasterRoc FP 1350 fire protection mortar manufactured by BASF protects the concrete used for the tunnel tube in the Bodio section near the southern entrance to the tunnel against excessive heat. "Being covered with a layer of fire protection mortar, the tunnel walls withstand temperatures of up to 1,400 degree Celsius for a minimum of 90 minutes. This way we gain some precious time for firefighting," says Frank Clement, a BASF expert for underground fire protection solutions. Visit http://www.ugc.basf.com for more information.
Scott Lahmers, a technical specialist with ThyssenKrupp Elevator Manufacturing, narrates this 2013 video made from photographs he took as the last escalator was being installed in the One World Trade Center in Manhattan.
The Logistics Park Kansas City intermodal facility, the Plattsmouth River Bridge, Tower 55, and track maintenance in North Dakota to accommodate increased movement of crude oil trains were among BNSF Railway's capital projects during 2013.
EPA's Airborne Spectral Photometric Environmental Collection Technology (ASPECT) provides infrared and photographic images with geospatial, chemical, and radiological information within minutes to the first responder. The speed of transmitting this information permits a more efficient assessment of the extent and severity of damages to critical infrastructure during emergencies to minimize impacts to the American people, the environment, and the economy.
ASPECT is a screening tool that uses multiple sensors to support emergency responses, homeland security missions, environmental surveys, and climate monitoring missions. Data generated from these missions produce scientifically valid products in a variety of formats to support the local, state, and federal operation centers. The ASPECT Team encompasses scientists, engineers, and public health experts with advanced degrees and more than 75 years of collective experience in airborne remote chemical or radiological detection and emergency response operations.
ASPECT is a 24/7/365 response-ready asset that can be wheels up within an hour of activation and be on station, collecting data, anywhere in continental United States within nine hours from its home base near Dallas.
This GE Power & Water video posted in January 2014 shows how, in Bogo City, Philippines, electricity linemen have become heroes. Philippines electricity company DESCO President Sherwin Mendiola talks about the need for electricity to support recovery efforts after a natural disaster and to save lives.
Sponsored by General Electric
The Constant Resolution Visual System brings a new level of reality to flight simulators. By engulfing pilots in 360 degrees of seamless, high-resolution imagery, it creates the feeling of total immersion in flight. So pilots can train like they fly.
Members of Coast Guard Air Station Houston participated in Aviation Water Survival Training on Sept. 25, 2013, to prepare for emergency situations in helicopter or fixed-wing aircraft. The training tested their ability to think through crash or ditch situations and gave them the opportunity to utilize emergency equipment during survival situations. (U.S. Coast Guard video by Petty Officer 3rd Class Manda Mae Emery)