It’s a first responder’s worst nightmare.
An EMT is inside a large industrial site dealing with an emergency reaches for her two-way radio to ask for back up, only to find she’s without a signal and can’t communicate with her support team. This situation only has to happen once in a life or death moment for people to realize just how important it is to know there’s capable RF frequencies throughout a building.
Hospitals, universities, hotels and industrial sites are just some of the types of buildings designed to occupy a large amount of people, and safety is a top priority during construction. Fire codes dictate how many people can be within the walls and placement of smoke detectors, building codes make sure the structures are designed to withstand our area’s natural disasters such as tropical storm winds as best as manmade buildings can, and security teams work to keep people inside safe during work or events after construction. But what regulates the communication standards within these buildings?
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has published specifications within section 510 of the National Fire Code for situations just like this. That section states:
“Any emergency responder radio coverage must be installed, tested and operational prior to occupancy of the structure. It is the responsibility of the building owners and designers to ensure the testing, design and installation of emergency responder radio coverage systems prior to the issuance of a temporary or permanent Certificate of Occupancy.”
Counties and jurisdictions in North Carolina are beginning to adopt that code, making it a requirement to provide Emergency Responders Radio Communication Services (ERRCS) to any new building, and RCS Wireless Technology is equipped to help contractors and developers meet this standard. Thanks to our new, state-of-the-art testing device from PCTel, the Public Safety Network Testing Solution, our service technicians can measure and map the presence and/or absence of indoor RF signals with greater accuracy than ever before.
“At RCS, one of our focuses is on providing communications services for our law enforcers and first responders,” says Chuck Shipton, President, RCS Wireless Technology. “Adding the trusted technology of PCTel’s testing devices to our range of services helps enhance our offerings and improve the level of service we will be able to provide to current and future customers.”