Cause for Alarm

• NCJ Number: 211861
• Date Published: January 2001
• Author(s): National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center

Annotation

This article describes the cost benefits to correctional administrators in the implementation of the ALARM (Alternative Life-Safety Analysis for Retrofit-Cost Minimization) software program to bring facilities into compliance with national safety and protection codes.

Abstract

Developed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) with support from the National Institute of Justice’s Office of Law Enforcement Standards (OLES), the Windows compatible software program ALARM (Alternative Life-Safety Analysis for Retrofit-Cost Minimization) was created so facility managers and safety officers could quickly create a tailored, economical plan to bring their facilities into compliance with the National Fire Protection Association, Life Safety Code (LSC). Correctional administrators can utilize ALARM to help them achieve American Correctional Association (ACA) accreditation. This article describes how a cost-benefit program, originally developed under a Public Health Service grant for hospitals, is applicable to correctional facilities. Correctional facilities are identified in the LSC manual as following the same pattern as hospitals.