Abstract:
In an emergency evacuation reporting system and method, a number of normally open illuminated push button switches are distributed throughout a facility at all normal and alternate exit routes for each area. The push button switches are connected to a command center for the facility. When an emergency area is evacuated, the LEDs representing the affected areas in the facility are energized red on a status panel in the command center. As the evacuation wardens verify each area clear of personnel, they press the most convenient push button switch for their area. This changes the red LED at the status panel to green and also illuminates the push button switch in the affected area.

Description:
COPYRIGHT NOTICE 
     A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention disclosed herein relates generally to an emergency evacuation system. More particularly, the present invention relates to an emergency evacuation reporting system and method for automatically reporting an evacuation status from an affected area to a command center. 
     Despite great strides in science and technology in the last half of this century, handling of an emergency situation in a building occupied by many people remain at practically the same rudimentary level as before. Moreover, an increase of multi-storied buildings in the cities around the world has exacerbated the problem—due to their size, the high-rise buildings may create logistics nightmares during the evacuation proceedings. 
     When a fire alert or a bomb threat is announced via a PA system, an alarm, etc., building occupants of each floor proceed to the nearest exit, hopefully, in an orderly fashion, as previously rehearsed during emergency or fire drills. In a business setting, for example, people occupying the building select evacuation wardens to be assigned to each floor to conduct the evacuation proceedings. When the last person leaves the floor, a respective evacuation warden calls the command center to report on the status of the evacuation. The evacuation warden may report the area clear or request additional help, if needed, using a fire telephone system assigned for such use only. 
     There are several disadvantages associated with the above evacuation reporting procedure. The fire telephone system becomes overloaded as many evacuation wardens may attempt to reach the command center at the same time. Hence, some status evacuation reports may be missed or garbled. In addition, the evacuation warden has to wait for an operator to answer the telephone. Then, the evacuation warden has to report the situation to the operator and to confirm that the report is properly acknowledged at the command center. This procedure may take excessive time in requesting assistance of an emergency response team for example, and may jeopardize the lives of building occupants and evacuation warden. 
     A need therefore exists for an emergency evacuation reporting system and method that overcome the above, as well as other, disadvantages of the conventional evacuation procedure. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide an emergency evacuation reporting system and method. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide the emergency evacuation reporting system and method for automatically reporting an evacuation status of the affected area to a command center. 
     It is still another object of the present invention to provide the emergency evacuation reporting system and method for automatically requesting the assistance in an emergency situation. 
     It is yet another object of the present invention to provide the emergency evacuation reporting system and method for automatically acknowledging receipt of the evacuation status of the affected area by the command center. 
     The above and other objects are achieved by an emergency evacuation reporting system for handling an evacuation of people from an affected area in a facility. The inventive system includes an emergency switch for generating a signal to indicate that people have been evacuated from the affected area. According to the inventive system, the emergency switch is located in the affected area. Further included in the inventive system is an indicator remotely located from the emergency switch for visually confirming the evacuation of people from the affected area in response to the generated signal. 
     In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the indicator visually indicates an emergency situation in response to the generated signal. 
     In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the emergency switch includes a light that is activated only if the remotely located indicator visually indicates the emergency situation in the affected area. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The present invention is illustrated in the figures of the accompanying drawings which are meant to be exemplary and not limiting, in which like reference characters are intended to refer to like or corresponding parts, and in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an emergency evacuation reporting system according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 2A is a block diagram of a status display located in the command center; 
     FIG. 2B is a block diagram of a legend display of the command center for specifying the exact physical locations of illuminated emergency switches in a facility; and 
     FIG. 3 is a flowchart describing the operation of the emergency evacuation reporting system. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     As a general overview, the present invention allows an evacuation warden to provide a status report to a command center quickly and without the error-prone oral communication between the evacuation warden and an operator at the command center. According to the present invention, each floor exit in a building is provided with an emergency switch connected to a status display in the command center. Following the successful evacuation of people from the floor, the evacuation warden activates a respective emergency switch. The activation of the emergency switch causes a signal to be transmitted to the command center. The signal is received and processed at the command center, such that the status display visually indicates the evacuation status for each floor (level) based on the received signal. 
     One embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying figures. In particular, FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an emergency evacuation reporting system of the present invention. A representative lower level  200  in a building  100  contains an emergency signal processing device  102  having a programmable controller  104  for receiving, processing and transmitting various signals associated with a fire, a bomb threat, or some other emergency situation requiring, for example, the evacuation of people from the building  100 . Further located in the building  100  is a number of illuminated emergency switches, each represented for example by a push-button switch with the light inside. As known to those skilled in the art, an illuminated emergency switch is normally open causing the light to be off, but when the illuminated emergency switch is activated, the light inside the emergency switch is turned on. 
     FIG. 1 representatively shows five illuminated emergency switches SW 1 , SW 2 , SW 3 , SW 12 , SW 13  located in the building  100 . The illuminated emergency switches SW 1 , SW 2 , SW 3 , SW 12 , SW 13  are located near or in the vicinity of the building exits (not shown in the figure) on the lower level  200 . Namely, each exit from the building  100  has at least one illuminated emergency switch nearby. The illuminated emergency switches SW 1 , SW 2 , SW 3 , SW 12 , SW 13  are communicatively coupled, via a wired or wireless medium, to the emergency signal processing device  102 . 
     Further shown in FIG. 1 is a detector  122  for detecting a distressful environmental condition posing a possible danger to the building occupants. The detector  122  may detect excessive smoke, high temperature, high level of carbon monoxide, etc. 
     FIG. 1 shows an alarm  106  for emitting a siren or any other sound in case of an emergency. The emergency signal processing device  102  controls the alarm  106  in response to the detector  122 . Namely, the detector  122  detects, for example, a heavy smoke and transmits a signal to the emergency signal processing device  102 . After receiving and processing the transmitted signal, the emergency signal processing device  102  sends a signal to the alarm  106  to activate the siren in the building  100 . 
     The building  100  also contains a fire telephone  118  for transmitting and receiving voice signals similar to a conventional telephone. However, unlike the conventional telephone the fire telephone  118  is hard-wired to automatically dial a fire telephone  120  located in a command center  112  as soon as the handset of the fire telephone  188 , for example, is lifted. The command center  112 , remotely located from the lower level  200  and possibly from the building  100 , is staffed with operators for responding to the emergency situations. The voice communication between the command center  112  and the building  100  is maintained via the fire telephones  118  and  120  as mentioned above. 
     Further according to FIG. 1, the emergency signal processing device  102  is communicatively coupled to a computer device  124  located in the command center  112 . The computer device  124  includes a programmable controller  114  for processing signals received from the emergency signal processing device  102  and further includes a status display  116  for indicating the status of the illuminated emergency switches SW 1 , SW 2 , SW 3 , SW 12 , SW 13  and other illuminated emergency switches (not shown) located throughout the building  100 . 
     FIG. 2A shows the status display  116  in detail. It is noted that the status display  116  may be any display device, such as a computer monitor, LCD monitor, etc. In a preferred embodiment, the status display  116  is implemented with light-emitting diodes (LED) for indicating respective illuminated emergency switches in the building  100 . As shown in FIG. 2A, the status display  116  shows a configuration of four levels: the lower level  200 , the first level  202 , the second level  204 , and the third level  206  in the building  100 . It is noted that FIG. 1 shows the block diagram of only one representative level of the building  100 , that is the lower level  200 , in order to avoid repeating the above description. Each level on the status display  116  represents the actual level or floor configuration in the building  100 . 
     The lower level  200  is divided into three zones and has five emergency switches installed thereon, preferable near or in the vicinity of fire exits: three emergency switches are in a zone  8 Z, two emergency switches are in a zone  4 Z and no emergency switches are in a zone  2 Z. The five emergency switches SW 1 , SW 2 , SW 3 , SW 12 , SW 13  correspond to indicators  1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  12 ,  13  on the status display  116 , as shown in FIG.  2 A. As mentioned above, each indicator on the status display  116  is an LED according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     The first level  202  in the building  100  is divided into zones  2 Z,  4 Z,  6 Z,  7 Z,  8 Z and contains fifteen emergency switches (not shown) corresponding to indicators  4 - 6 ,  14 - 25  on the status display  116  as illustrated in FIG.  2 A. Similarly, there are four zones  4 Z,  6 Z,  7 Z,  8 Z in the second level  204  that has sixteen emergency switches (not shown) corresponding to indicators  7 - 9   26 - 38 . The third level  206  is divided into three zones  4 Z,  6 Z,  8 Z and has two emergency switches (not shown) corresponding to indicators  10 ,  11 . In aggregate, there are  38  indicators on the status display  116  in a one-to-one correspondence with the illuminated emergency switches arranged throughout the four floors  200 ,  202 ,  204 ,  206  in the building  100 . 
     FIG. 2B shows a block diagram of a legend display  208  for specifying the exact physical locations of the illuminated emergency switches SW 1 -SW 38  in the building  100 . In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the legend display  208  is located adjacent the status display  116  in the command center  112 . The legend display  208  shows the correspondence between the indicators  1 - 38  on the status display  116  and the actual locations of the emergency switches in the building  100 , whereby practically each area of the building  100  can be quickly pinpointed by an emergency response team if necessary. It is emphasized that each indicator  1 - 38  corresponds to the respective illuminated emergency switch SW 1 -SW 38  in the building  100 . For example, the emergency switch SW 1  corresponding to the indicator  1  is located in area  1 , and according to the legend display  208 , that area is in the southwest part of the lower level  200  as shown in FIG.  2 B. Similarly, the emergency switch SW 2  corresponding to the indicator  2  is located in area  2  which is in the northwest part of the lower level  200 . Based on the legend display  208 , an operator in the command center  112  can quickly determine the status of areas  1 - 38  that contain the emergency switches SW 1 -SW 38 , respectively, corresponding to the indicators  1 - 38 . 
     The operation of the emergency evacuation reporting system of the present invention will now be explained with reference to the flowchart of FIG.  3  and the block diagram of FIG.  1 . In step  300 , an emergency situation is detected. For example, the detector  122  detects excessive smoke and notifies the emergency signal processing device  102  by sending a signal to be processed by the programmable controller  104 . In step  302 , the emergency signal processing device  102  activates the alarm  106  in response to the signal received from the detector  122 . In step  304 , the indicators are activated at the command center  112 . In particular, substantially simultaneously with activating the alarm  106  in the building  100 , the emergency signal processing device  102  sends a signal to the computer device  124  at the command center  112 . The programmable controller  114  in the computer device  124  executes the instructions to send a signal to the status display  116 . In response to the signal received from the programmable controller  114 , the status display  116  turns on the indicators, selected from the indicators  1 - 38  at the status display  116 , that represent areas affected by the smoke in the building  100 . It is understood, of course, that all indicators  1 - 38  may be activated if the smoke has spread to all areas of the building  100  as detected by the detector  122 . 
     In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the selected LEDs are energized on the status display  116 . In step  306 , the programmable controller  114  executes the required instructions to determine whether any indicators have been deactivated at the command center  112 . In particular, after evacuating the affected area of the building  100 , the evacuation warden verifies the area clear of people—the situation is under control—and then activates any of the illuminated emergency switches located at normal and alternate exit routes in that area. In the preferred embodiment, the evacuation warden presses a push-button switch which is normally open. When the push-button switch is pressed, the contacts are closed, and the light inside the emergency switch is turned on. This gives an indication to the evacuation warden that the signal has been received at the command center  112 . Once the evacuation warden presses the illuminated emergency switch, other illuminated emergency switches in the same area are also activated with their corresponding indicators being turned on at the status display  116 . 
     At the command center  112 , when the respective illuminated emergency switch is pressed, the corresponding indicator is deactivated at the status display  16 . For example, the corresponding indicator may change its color from red to green at the status display  116 . Hence, the operator at the command center  112  receives a visual indication that a particular area has been evacuated. Similarly, other indicators at the status display  16  are deactivated for the same area. 
     As shown in FIG. 3, if an indicator at the status display  116  is deactivated in step  306  in response to the evacuation warden pressing the illuminated emergency switch, the programmable controller  114  sends a signal to the emergency signal processing device  122 . In response to the received signal, the programmable controller  104  in the emergency signal processing device  122  is operative to turn on the light in the pressed illuminated emergency switch in the building  100  (step  308 ). Alternatively, the illuminated emergency switch may be hardwired in such a way that when the evacuation warden activates the illuminated emergency switch, the signal is sent from the activated illuminated emergency switch to the computer device  124 , and that same signal is operative to turn on the light in the activated illuminated emergency switch. In this alternative embodiment, no response signal is required from the programmable controller  114  of the command center  112  to turn on the light in the activated illuminated emergency switch. 
     If the indicator in the affected area is not deactivated in step  306 —the indicator has not changed from red to green—the programmable controller  114  starts a timer which is preset for a predetermined time interval, such as 10 minutes for example (step  309 ). In step  310 , the programmable controller  114  determines whether the time interval has expired. If so, an operator&#39;s attention is requested in step  312 . Namely, the indicator at the status display  116  starts flashing by intermittently going off and on. Most likely in that case, the command center operator will dispatch an emergency response team to the area in question to investigate the situation. 
     In step  314 , the programmable controller  114  executes instructions to determine whether all of the indicators in the affected areas has been accounted for. If so, the occupants of the building  100  have been evacuated, and the evacuation procedure is terminated. Otherwise, the operational steps in the flowchart of FIG. 3 are repeated, starting with the operation in step  306 , until the command center operator visually processes all of the indicators at the status display  116 . 
     It is noted that if the evacuation warden requires assistance, a fire telephone system is available to maintain voice contact with the command center operator. The fire telephone system includes the fire telephones  118  and  120  in the building  100  and the command center  112 , respectively, as shown in FIG.  1  and discussed hereinabove. 
     While in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the LEDs are changed from red to green, it is understood that any other color may be used to alert the command center operator of the emergency situation and of the successful area evacuation. Similarly, the flashing LEDs indicative of the seriousness of the situation may be replaced with another form of notification, for example. 
     There are several advantages of the present invention over the conventional fire notification systems. According to the present invention no response is required from the command center to acknowledge or receive the status reports on the evacuation. Namely, the evacuation warden does not have to wait for the command center operator to answer the telephone and to acknowledge the report. Furthermore, since the information is available at a glance for all areas of the facility according to the present invention, the possibility of misinterpreting the information is virtually eliminated. In addition, the present invention makes available the emergency phone system for emergency communications that require two-way communication. 
     While the invention has been described and illustrated in connection with preferred embodiments, many variations and modifications as will be evident to those skilled in this art may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and the invention is thus not to be limited to the precise details of methodology or construction set forth above as such variations and modification are intended to be included within the scope of the invention.