False alarm reductions of 41-75 % were observed at Harvard following installation of new, less sensitive smoke detectors to replace more sensitive ones or by introducing time delays into the system. A new evaluation index for smoke detection systems, based on alarm-free months, showed an increase of 33% in alarmless months following replace ment. A model of this index predicts that negligible benefits to some systems can occur following replacement; however, a potentially negligible benefit might be turned into a sig nificant benefit if detectors had adjustable sensitivities.
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References
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See, for example, the January/February 1988 issue of the NFPA Fire Journal, which contains four articles on the false alarm problem.
3.
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