OKLAHOMA BLOOD INSTITUTE BANKS ON GAMEWELL-FCI
Voice Evacuation, Expandable Networking, Remote Monitoring
and Safe Blood Supply Saves Lives
Oklahoma and north central Texas

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When a medical emergency develops and people are in need, Oklahoma Blood Institute (OBI) is there to help, striving to provide the safest and highest quality blood supply, services and health programs
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As the United States’, tenth, largest non-profit regional blood center, OBI’s operations are comprised of 12 campus-style locations including a main headquarters and laboratories and donor centers spread throughout Oklahoma and north central Texas. OBI supplies more than 150 medical facilities in Oklahoma and north central Texas with life-saving transfusion products and clinical services. Considering its immense life safety mission, OBI’s facilities undergo constant expansion and improvement, making the provision of security and life safety a challenge.

When the time came to upgrade its security and life safety systems, the facilities management team banked on STAMPSCO Fire & Security, a local fire and security integrator with a proven track record of similar installations. STAMPSCO is based in Oklahoma City and an authorized distributor of Gamewell-FCI fire alarm products.
“OBI sought out an experienced installer and modern technology that can provide a much higher level of efficiency, reliability and safety,” said Bill Novak, Director of Facilities for OBI.

Not an Average Campus
The greatest challenge facing STAMPSCO was the size of OBI’s operation. OBI facilities are a mix of old and new with offices, blood processing laboratories and other medical support areas.
“It’s not a campus in the true sense. There are a number of different locations, and each could be considered a campus unto itself,” said Rodney Stamps, CEO of STAMPSCO and a NICET-certified fire, life safety and security specialist.

The project is a fire alarm, access control, security and CCTV multi-phase installation with all facilities involved in various levels of new construction, renovation and retrofitting.
The system designed for OBI provided an addressable solution that could pinpoint the location of a fire emergency, be monitored remotely, allow for future expansion and provide a voice evacuation fire safety solution for the planned high-rise, plus the laboratory and office areas. To ensure designs were acceptable per local codes and requirements, STAMPSCO met early and often with the local AHJ.

Focus on FocalPoint
“The customer had some unique needs that required having a centralized location for the remote monitoring of its numerous buildings that are scattered around the region. It made the most sense to use the FocalPoint product for monitoring,” said Stamps.
The specific solution for OBI includes a FocalPoint® graphic workstation, manufactured by Gamewell-FCI, showing in-depth fire protection information about any of the facilities in real-time. Detailed graphic layouts of all buildings and fire alarm systems on OBI campuses can be viewed and historically logged by the FocalPoint system.

The OBI monitoring station is configured with custom site-specific graphics and connected to the whole network of fire alarm control panels. As new structures and fire alarm system components are added, the system reflects those changes.

“The system’s menus and operations are very intuitive for easy use, which met another need,” said Stamps.

From a single screen, a FocalPoint workstation operator can magnify the facility map using the “zoom in” and “zoom out” feature to view floor plans or identify the location and type of multiple events. The operator can monitor remote site activity and link multimedia (text, audio, video, and bitmaps) to any FocalPoint unit. A history log can also be viewed on the same screen as the facility floor plans to help evaluate the sequence of events.

The OBI desktop version of FocalPoint is up and running. As the project progresses, STAMPSCO plans to install the new ‘FocalPoint Mobile’ wireless tablet PC for monitoring access on-the-go. Working in-tandem with the FocalPoint desktop PCs, these wireless units supply the same real-time information and graphic layouts via a wireless network connection or cellular broadband. FocalPoint Mobile allows facility managers, security personnel and emergency responders to quickly evaluate emergency incidents and make prompt, informed decisions.

Expandable High-Tech Life Safety
Oklahoma Blood Institute facilities required a fire alarm system with the capability to expand easily while still providing a high level of protection. “We wanted a system that satisfied our needs for voice evacuation and mass notification. Ease of use was another requirement and we wanted all locations to be networked,” said Jerry Martinez, Safety Officer for OBI.

Taking into account these future growth and technology requirements, STAMPSCO went with Gamewell-FCI’s E3 Series® line of emergency evacuation products. “By using the E3 line of fire alarms we can choose from a variety of panels and modules to fit the job and allow for any additions or upgrades down the road,” said Stamps.

With the vast layout of OBI’s buildings, there was a need for a system with a high degree of survivability in the event of an emergency that threatened any property or occupants. The E3 Series utilizes a distributed, not centralized, communication control with Style 7 wiring. This type of “survivable system” helps ensure all communications continue to be performed properly, regardless if one or more parts of the network are destroyed.

The system’s broadband technology provides the bandwidth to enable split-second performance with no delays, even when other system operations are in progress. When communicating between individuals, broadband delivers clear, intelligible instructions. These factors increase life safety while reducing the chances of major property loss.

The two-wire system integration, a cornerstone of the E3 Series line, was another selling point for STAMPSCO. Only two-pair of copper wires or fiber-optic cables are required for the networking of a complete E3 Series system of panels and nodes. This exclusive feature minimizes connections and makes system expansion less labor-intensive and less costly. Aside from the low impact of wiring in those facilities that required a retrofit, the E3 Series provides OBI with a facility-wide voice evacuation system that grows as they grow, Stamps said.

The E3 Series system features a customizable 80-character alphanumeric LCD display, rapid polling rate, high-speed 32-bit processor and a 64-node network made possible by 625K baud/ARCNET communications. It is also equipped with an Intelligent Loop Interface-Main Board and an Expansion Board, plus an ASM-16 Addressable Switch Module.

In addition to offering ease of expansion, the OBI life safety system had to be compatible with a portion of its existing equipment. To remain consistent with the present buildings, STAMPSCO chose the Gamewell-FCI 7100 Series of addressable fire control panels and remote annunciators for the needed upgrades.

“The addressable systems and remote annunciators are a big improvement for our facilities. We can now pinpoint the location of a fire emergency onsite and respond more quickly if such an event occurs,” said Martinez.

Powering up
Powering the OBI life safety systems are an array of power supplies manufactured by Honeywell Power Products. STAMPSCO chose the HPF24S6 six-amp remote power supply with built-in battery charger, primarily because of its compact size and quick installation features.
“We needed a supply that would connect seamlessly to the (fire alarm) panel as well as perform well with all accessories,” Stamps said. The primary applications for this supply are NAC (notification appliance circuit) expansion, and system strobe synchronization.

The HPMOM5 power distribution module offers a choice of two outputs, “fail safe” or “fail secure”, and a choice of two fire alarm inputs, N/O or N/C, triggered by reverse polarity from the fire alarm panel.

“We always know the integration of the whole system is going to work because these power supplies are designed and tested right alongside the same fire alarm products we install on a daily basis,” Stamps said.

In Summary
To date, STAMPSCO has completed installation and acceptance tests at the Ada, Lawton, Northgate and Edmond, Oklahoma locations. Work is now underway at the organization’s headquarters and main donor center, which is the largest OBI facility.

“We put a lot of thought into the specific needs of each facility. With the excitement of the new systems and success of the installations, we feel confident that we’re providing OBI with the highest level of quality and protection available,” said Stamps.

Side Bar: A History of Saving Lives
OBI began operations on January 1, 1977 as an “Oklahoma response to an Oklahoma need.” At that time, surgeries were routinely cancelled because there was not enough blood to meet patient needs. Today, OBI is the tenth largest, non-profit regional blood center in the United States. About 120,000 volunteer, blood donors give more than 250,000 units each year through Oklahoma Blood Institute. With the help of nearly 700 employees, 800 volunteers and more than 2,400 donor groups, OBI supplies blood to more than 150 medical facilities throughout Oklahoma and Northern Texas.

It has a history of being on the cutting edge of medical advances related to blood. For instance, in 1985 OBI helped develop the original HIV Antigen test that was eventually used throughout the United States when AIDS became a safety concern for the nation’s blood supply.

Ten years later, OBI successfully met the unanticipated challenges of blood needs presented by the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. When the terrorist attack struck the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, OBI was the first blood center to send tested and processed blood to New York City.

As the need for its specialized type of medical assistance grew, OBI expanded. When it opened in 1977, operations were confined to Oklahoma City and a blood donor center in Lawton. Today, OBI has 12 locations throughout the state with plans for a new four-story building next to the main facility in Oklahoma City.