Building Triage in Response to Wide-Area Bio-Releases: Concepts and Building Classification System

Published

July 7, 2011

Author(s)

Andrew K. Persily

Abstract

In order to support effective responses to a wide-area release of a biological agent in an urban area, a “building triage” approach is envisioned that will provide an estimate of the contamination levels of specific buildings that are likely to have been affected by the release. The building triage concept is described in terms of the steps in the process and the information required and then produced at each step. Key initial steps in developing this triage approach are then discussed. These include the identification of those building features relevant to the level of contamination, which is done through a proposed building classification system, and then the definition of generic building types that will be used with the classification system in the triage process. It is anticipated that this building classification system and the generic building types will be used in initial demonstrations of the building triage approach. A number of key next steps in developing the triage concept are also discussed.

Citation

Technical Note (NIST TN) - 1686

Report Number

1686

Volume

1686

NIST Pub Series

Technical Note (NIST TN)

Pub Type

NIST Pubs

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Citation

Persily, A. (2011), Building Triage in Response to Wide-Area Bio-Releases: Concepts and Building Classification System, Technical Note (NIST TN), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=906655 (Accessed October 18, 2025)