Heathrow’s Airside Operations Safety Unit (AOSU) has become the world’s first to install Smart Arrow boards to assist the safe evacuation of people in an emergency.
The Smart Arrow board is mounted to the top of a vehicle and when activated raises up on the roof to display illuminated arrows directing people to safe locations. The system also features speakers to attract passengers’ attention to the vehicle.
The Smart Arrow Boards will be used in emergency situations where passengers need to be evacuated to a safe, designated area. The Smart Arrow board will enable this process to be even quicker and clearer for passengers should a similar event happen again.
Mark Sandford, Duty Manager Airside said: “We are very excited to be the first airport in the world to install these arrow boards. These will enable the airside operations unit to be even quicker and more efficient in assisting passengers in an emergency. They have already been used in a trial and proved extremely successful in directing passengers to a safe area.”
The Smart Arrow Board was initially fitted to a test vehicle and trialled at the bi-annual emergency exercise at Gatwick and Southampton Airport. Participants of the emergency exercise did not know the Smart Arrow was going to be present, and when it was deployed all participants were instinctively drawn towards the vehicle.
