Firearm discharge detecting and semaphoring system and method
A semaphore for guiding an occupant to safety during an emergency event communicates with a gunfire detector to provide a visual cue conveying whether it is safe to proceed through an entryway in an active shooter event.
1. A system for guiding an occupant away from danger and to safety during an evolving emergency event, the system comprising:
a one or more semaphore communicating with a one or more detector of an emergency detection system programmed to detect the evolving emergency event and communicate an alert mode status each of the one or more semaphore configured to provide a visual cue to the occupant, the visual cue conveying whether it is safe to proceed through the first entryway, each of the one or more semaphore comprising:
a housing for affixing the first semaphore to a structure in proximity to a first entryway; and
a first display on which the visual cue is presented;
a data communication link between each of the one or more semaphore and one or more detector; and
a logic subsystem configured to:
monitor the alert mode status of each of the one or more detector; and
set the visual cue of each of the one or more semaphore that is communicating with the corresponding one or more detector according to the alert status of the one or more detector;
whereby, the system guides the occupant away from danger and to safety during an evolving emergency event.
2. The system of claim 1 wherein the first entryway is a structure selected from a group consisting of: a door, a gate, a hallway, a tunnel, and a bridge.
3. The system of claim 1 wherein the first display is a light display.
4. The system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the one or more detector comprises a temperature sensor and an infrared sensor operable to detect heat generated by a firearm, and wherein the emergency event is an active shooter event.
5. The system of claim 4 wherein the one or more detector is further operable to detect hotspots from a fire.
6. The system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the one or more semaphore further comprises an audio component to provide audio instructions.
7. The system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the one or more semaphore is a multi-directional semaphore comprising a plurality of sides and a plurality of displays, each of the plurality of displays disposed on each of the plurality of sides and further operable to simultaneously display same or different visual cues in different directions, wherein the occupant sees only one of the plurality of displays of the multi-directional semaphore at one time.
8. The system of claim 1 further comprising a plurality of semaphores signaling a path to safety, wherein the plurality of semaphores interface with the emergency detection system via a data communication link such that detection of the emergency event in the first location determines the visual cue provided by each of the plurality of semaphores, whereby a combination of the visual cues from the plurality of semaphores marks the path to safety.
9. The system of claim 8 wherein the plurality of semaphores comprise logic and communications subsystems permitting the plurality of semaphores to communicate with each other to coordinate the visual cues.
10. The system of claim 8 further comprising an interface with a third-party device selected from a group consisting of: cameras, video cameras, fire sprinklers, and alarms.