During my recovery I've enjoyed extra time to read. One of the books I enjoyed was The Last Man Down, a fire fighter's story of survival and escape from the World Trade Center. An interesting fact I learned from reading the book was the practice within the FDNY for a common key for emergency access. A barrel shaped '1620' key is issued to firefighters and that opens every elevator in NYC and every fire house in NYC. A great way to reduce confusion and increase efficiency in access.
Our local fire department has been encouraging local businesses to adopt a similar emergency access program using Knox Boxes. The Knox Box is similar to the key lock boxes used by realtor's. Access keys or swipe cards are stored inside the Knox Box and access to the Knox Box is limited to emergency responders and the business owners. I would support a proposal for the city adopt or modify our building codes to make Knox Boxes mandatory for all new commercial construction. The cost of a Knox Box is about $100. Seems to me a very small investment for a huge potential in savings.
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Scott, thanks for the blog about emergency access. That is something alot of people dont think of. Lots of times at alarm investigations the fire dept. has to wait for a key holder to arrive to let us in to the business. With the knox box we can access thier business as soon as we arrive on scene. I recall a couple of times that the sprinkler system in a couple of buildings was operating due to a malfunction and we had to wait for a key, this allows us to enter the building immediatley and saving materials from water damage. The price is a little over $200 per box, but its well worth it.
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