Billy
I have followed your promotion of the 'Simline' with interest but , regarding the evacuation of buildings , I agree with the last guest. The 'Simline' certainly appears to be a significant improvement on the current BA guide line, which was designed in the days when firemen went into jobs using their bare hands and BA was the OiC's decision. (I know, I was there!). In those days you could easily feel the tabs and count the knots (it was the knots that indicated the long way in and the short way out guys, not trying to tell whether the tabs were different lengths). With the advent of H&S and lovely thick firefighting gloves everything to do with guide lines became much more difficult. Despite their drawbacks however, they are still the best method we have of operating within a complex structure which ensures, to a reasonable extent, the H&S of the crews, and any improvement is to be welcomed.
But operational firefighting is far removed from building occupants evacuating in the early stages of a fire. It's already been pointed out that if people are evacuating through smoke thick enough to need a tactile guidance system then something has gone very badly wrong indeed. That sounds more like an aircraft fire scenario than a structure fire.
It also ignores the behavioural aspect. Perhaps an experienced fireman (sorry - Firefighter) can operate in thick smoke and still evacuate safely but I doubt that few members of the public, encountering thick acrid smoke for the first time in their lives, would be calm and collected enough to follow a guide line. Whether itsmines or oil platfarms, or even the disciplined environs of an MoD establishment, few have direct experience of the effects of smoke. I would guess that any guide lines fitted would be provided for the benefit of fire crews, not evacuation, and anyway, the fire crews may not enter through the fire exit that people should be using so the guide lines might not benefit the evacuees at all.
A robust evacuation plan with effective procedures to ensure that everyone can get themselves out, or are provided with assistance if necessary, backed up with adequate training is, I believe, the best solution.
The 'Simline' sounds like the most promising BA guide line improvement I have yet heard of but be carefull that your enthusiasm doesn't get it associated with other 'great' safety ideas like rope ladders in lockers and self actuating fire extinguishers which were about as practical as the Sinclair C5. I think that that that would be a real loss.
