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OWNER'S MANUAL / GUIDE The Parat Plus(tm) may save your life, be familiar with it before you need it. Make yourself familiar with this brochure in order to know exactly what to do in case of an emergency. Buildings like hotels, offices or apartments can be high. In case a fire emergency happens in such a building a good escape route to the ground level is of vital importance for your safety. However, investigations indicate that such an escape route is not always provided for. Moreover, your way out may be obstructed and the fire department may not be able to reach you in time. The Parat Plus(tm) is an ultimate device which is your last resort in case of real danger and only to be used when all other possibilities to escape have failed. It is important for you to realize that the fire department or brigade normally cannot reach higher than 7 - 9 stories approximately 75 - 100 feet. Rescue efforts from higher levels are extremely difficult and dangerous. Furthermore, buildings are multi sided and the fire department may only have one or two ladders with any significant reach. Persons who have survived high-rise fires and psychologists, who study human behavior in fire situations, point out that you as an individual must know how to save yourself before the fire emergency. This is your single best chance to live; you simply must know what to do and what not to do. This knowledge may save your life, the lives of family members or your associates. This is why the Parat Plus(tm) was developed. The Parat Plus(tm) is an investment in your personal safety. The Problem What is the behavior of people who are in a fire situation? Behavior of persons in a fire is influenced by a number of factors. Is there exposure to smoke and heat? Does the person believe that there is a way out? How well does a person know the building? Has the person been in a fire emergency before? These are just a few of many possible variables. Understanding of all these factors eludes even the foremost experts in the field, and there is actually very little scientific research data available from which to draw absolute conclusions. However, our studies on the subject indicate that people will generally behave to a fire emergency in roughly one or a combination of three ways: 1) fright, 2) flight, 3) denial Fright. A person is so stricken with fear that anything or anyone in the exit path will be trampled down. "An oiler who survived the SS. Morrow Castle ship fire in 1934 reported that three times his ankles were seized and he was pulled bodily off a ladder up which he was trying to escape." [Hugh Clevely, "Famous Fires," New York: The John Day Co., 1958] People can be quite savage under these circumstances and will do anything in desperation to save themselves. Flight. People could follow you. You must be ready to get out of the way to avoid being trampled to death. A trigger for flight could be someone shouting "Follow me - this is the way out". Persons follow in a mad rush, most likely in the wrong direction. In one recent fire a strong military looking man was recognized (wrongly) by other persons as the leader in the fire emergency. This man lead a number of persons to a window on the 9th floor and ordered them to jump in order to escape the fire. The people had become so fearful of the fire that without question they, on the mere word of a total stranger, jumped tragically to their deaths. Sadly, the fire had been controlled and was actually out at the time of their fatal jump. Denial. At a recent high rise fire in Chicago, fire fighters were on the telephone with a woman whom they could not rescue from the outside because of limited equipment and they could not locate her from the inside. The advice given to her repeatedly by fire authorities was to stay where she was and wait for the rescue team. Unfortunately the advise proved to be wrong and city fire fighters could not reach her in time. The denial in this specific situation involves the mistaken belief that the fire department will take care of everything to insure your safety. They cannot, and in some countries will not. The 62 story First Interstate Bank Building became the scene of the worst and most difficult high-rise fire in the history of Los Angeles. On May 4, 1988 more than 64 fire companies and 383 fire fighters were called to battle. At 10:30 P.M. the fire control station within the security control room received an automatic fire alarm signal for the 12th floor. Instead of reporting the incident, the security guard checked the electrical circuits, found them "OK" and reset the alarm (which simultaneously turned off the fire evacuation alarm) but, as you would expect, almost immediately the alarm went sounded again. The guard repeated the incorrect behavior. The alarm went off again, but this time other fire zones were included. The fire was spreading rapidly. He repeated the behavior several times with the same results over the next few minutes. By 10:36 P.M. the security control room was receiving multiple alarm signals for most of the zones on floors 12 - 62. Instead of reporting the condition to authorities, the guard asked a loading dock maintenance worker to investigate the alarms. When the worker reached the 12th floor via elevator, the doors opened and he was instantly engulfed in the flames and intense heat. At 10:37 P.M. the fire department received the first call reporting the fire. All calls, without exception, came from persons outside the building who observed the flames from adjacent buildings, helicopters, and the street. The fire company was only six tenths of a mile away and they responded in only two minutes. At approximately 11:00 P.M. fire suppression crews reached the 12th floor, after a brief delay they began to fight the fire approximately 35 minutes after the first alarm was observed and very likely an hour after the fire started. Since the fire occurred in the evening there were only 40 persons in the building and 100% of them were injured. Smoke inhalation was the major injury. There was one fatality or 2.5% of the persons in the building died. Had the fire occurred during the day time when normal occupancy is 3,500 people more than 88 of these persons would have died as a result. You Must Protect Yourself Protect yourself from breathing smoke. One of the biggest factors which controls how a person will behave in a fire emergency is smoke. Smoke which is visible is toxic and will reduce your over all performance in reaching a safe exit. Not only is normal visibility poor, but smoke can get in your eyes and make it nearly impossible for you to see, thus increasing disorientation. Invisible and toxic fire gases can also contribute to impaired thinking. Oxygen depravation can cause errors in judgement. In these conditions it is likely that people will make mistakes that they would not make under normal circumstances. Peter G. Wood in his doctoral thesis at Loughborough University surveyed what 2,193 people did in 952 fire incidents. He found that:
[Peter G. Wood, "behavior of People in Fires". A study made under contract at Loughborough University of Technology. Joint Fire Research Organization Report Contract: AT/1170/08/FRS, November 1973, Fire Research Note No. 953, Department of Environment, Borehamwood, Herts, England] [Anne W. Phillips, M.D., "The Effects of Smoke on Human Behavior," Fire Journal, May, 1978, pp 64] The equipment you have purchased does give you an escape route, without outside help, in an emergency situation when normal emergency exits and other routes to the ground level are blocked. At the core of your safety equipment is the "friction block" containing a specially designed, highly heat resistant pulley. During your descent the life-line pulls through the friction block, speed kept under control by an ingenious (patented) brake mechanism. Additional slowing or stopping can be done by holding the life-line opposite the harness line. This is handy if, for example, you wanted to get down only a few floors and re-enter the building on a lower level. The Parat Plus(tm) is a unique invention developed by International companies and marketed exclusively by Hart International, Inc., a firm which specialize in top quality equipment for your immediate personal safety. The Parat Plus(tm) is fully tested and approved by various government testing laboratories throughout the world. You can relax, knowing you have a reliable way down - if you need it. SINTEF, government test labs in Norway, have completely tested the product and have issued their seal of approval, the highest safety standard in the world. We believe that Parat Plus(tm) meets or exceeds many other international standards such as the United States OSHA 1910.66 Mandatory Appendix D, the Canadian CSA Z259.2, and is built with materials which comply, meet or exceed NFPA German DIN British BSI and other worldwide specifications & standards. What does your travel bag contain? In the leather bag you will find the following standard equipment: A. Parat-Plus friction block made from highly heat resistant steel it is strong and light weight. B. Parat Plus(tm) life-line that provides you with an alternative escape route. This "track" is made of a mixture of 50% polyester, 37.5% polypropylene, and 12.5% polyethylene it is tested to 1,800 lbs. (in some models up to 4,500 lbs.) It has been heat tested up to 300 degrees F. In use, the friction block will only allow the life-line through at a very slow rate: approximately 1.9 feet per second or a slow walking pace - ideal for untrained persons. This is the ingenious part: the friction block is factory set in the "on" position and automatically adjusts itself for the individual user's weight. You do not have to do anything to control the lowering rate, it is completely automatic and reliable. The life-line has a heavy duty end stop built in, so the device will stop if the life-line has pulled through to it's full reach. C. Harness & Body Strap This harness is designed to go under your arms and body strap between your legs. It forms a cradle when you lower to the ground. D. Picture graphic emergency instructions These instructions are for a quick emergency reference for using the Parat Plus(tm) device and contain written emergency instructions in English. E. This Owner's Manual Owner's Manual along with Owner's Registration Card. (on last page of manual) ACCESSORIES A. Anchor Cable A 3 foot heat resisting steel cable with closed loops at both ends and a steel snap hook or carabiner with keeper (the same kind that many mountain climbers use). With these two accessories you can attach the Parat Plus(tm) to every object that is solid, immovable and strong enough to carry your weight during your descent. We do not recommend hooking to a non-fixed object because the hook up may slip off or the object may go through the window. The permanent installation model is mounted at a window location (directly to concrete, brick, steel beams or wood and requires no hook up other than getting into the harness). See 5. CAUTION: There are many objects which are not suitable anchor points which you must become familiar with in order to protect yourself. See item E under "What Precautions Are Vital To You." B. A safety light-stick which you can use in case of power failure to see in the dark or to signal fire authorities of your location. When you open the air tight foil packaging and bend the plastic tube at a 60 degree angle a small glass tube on the inside breaks. This causes two non-poisonous, non-toxic chemical fluids to mix inside the plastic tube which together produce light directly. This particular light-stick will last 12 hours, has a shelf life of about 5 years and is completely safe. If you wish, try the light stick and see how it will work for you, but they can only be used once. Additional light-stick can be obtained from Hart International, Inc. at a cost price of $2.95 each USD. Ideal for emergency lighting around the office, home or on the road. C. Window Breaker / center punch. Not every window can
be opened. The window breaker can break many types of hard window
glass, even double and triple pain glass. This is a common,
standard tool used by rescue workers. However, some types of
extremely thick glass, such as glass found in modern sky
scrapers, is designed not to break under most circumstances. We
have 2 additional window breaking tools that may help you to
break a window, but for reasons described above, cannot guarantee
that they will work in a particular application. You are invited
to our next public training session where we will train you in
how to break a window, please write us for additional
information. By adjusting the knob at the end of the center
punch, you can increase or decrease the strike force of the
punch. Try using the punch on a metal object about the size of a
coin to get a feel for how much force is required to use this
device, and how much force it delivers. It will require 45-65
lbs. of input force
The information contained in this page is © copyright MCMXCV Hart International, Inc.
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