Long Island Egress Pros is posing a vitally important question to the Long Island community, and it’s one that just might save your life: what is egress?

Founded in 2014, Long Island Egress Pros specializes in installing emergency escape windows and basement walkouts that are designed for a fast and easy escape from your basement in the event of a fire or other emergencies, as people – nor first responders – are typically able to get in or out of the high mini standard window found in most basements.

But according to Egress Pros VP Randy Goldbaum, most people are not only unaware that egress windows are required in basements by federal law, but they don’t even know what an egress window is.

“At Egress Pros we spend a tremendous amount of time bringing awareness about egress, because we learned from speaking to various communities that most people don’t know what egress is,” he said. “Over the years we have spoken with hundreds of firefighters and all agree that basement fires are among the most dangerous and challenging fires to encounter at a house or office. It is frustrating and dangerous  for the first responders because not only do countless homes not have egress, but some that do have a system that does not meet code, which can provide a false sense of safety.”

In order to help spread awareness about egress and to ensure that first responders are trained, Goldbaum and his partner Glen Dauman designed and developed an egress training system for the Suffolk and Nassau County Fire Academes due to the fact that they previously had no means at their disposal to learn how basement escape windows work.

“Firefighters have to go for regular recertification on skills that they possess, and my partner and I came up with the idea for a state certification program for egress,” he said. “But we figured that was only part of the problem. If you don't have the ability to physically go out into an egress, it's not the same as reading about it and fully equipping yourself for what that egress is and how it operates.”

“With that being said, my partner Glen, who is a contractor, developed a system that allowed us to simulate a basement with a complete egress window system,” Goldbaum continued. “Basically, it provides firefighters with simulated real-time ingress and egress usage during an emergency. Firefighters with their equipment are using our training system for experience.”

To that end, Long Island Egress Pros have been kind enough to donate and install their egress training systems at both the Nassau County and Suffolk County fire academies for Long Island  firefighters to train on, completely free of charge.

“We created and installed the systems just before COVID hit,” Goldbaum said. “The fire academies are now using the Egress Training System for practice in removal of occupants and simulating  downed firefighters in a basement. These drills are held numerous times per month and all year long. It is lifesaving training.” 

Goldbaum noted that Long Island Egress Pros were the ones to approach the Nassau and Suffolk County fire academies with their proposal to donate the egress training systems, and both of them emphatically welcomed the opportunity.

“They were both immediately on board. In fact, they were very appreciative,” he said. “What gave us the idea of donating these systems came from talking to firefighters and learning about the obstacles and the unique danger in dealing with basement emergencies.  Our first responders need to be prepared and the only way to be prepared is to practice. Our training system provides this important training.”

Chief Fire Marshal of Nassau County Michael Uttaro, at a recent Christmas safety demonstration at the Nassau County Fire Service Academy, extolled the virtues of Long Island Egress Pros for their generous donation of their training system. Uttaro noted that it has allowed Nassau County firefighters to familiarize themselves with basement egress windows, giving them the expertise and hands-on experience to deal with them quickly when lives are on the line.

“There are things you can do to retrofit your basement to make it safer, and that is installing an egress window, which aids our first responders and firefighters,” Uttaro said. “Egress Pros was nice enough to donate a training system to the Nassau County Fire Service Academy that the firefighters regularly train on. These devices are very important…the firefighters who train here at the academy frequently use Egress Pros’ system, just in case we have a basement fire and we have to rescue somebody, or we have to be rescued and get out of the basement safely.”

One of the most important aspects of Long Island Egress Pros’ egress system and what sets it apart from the competition is a few simple but potentially life-saving improvements to egress window code:

Egress Pros Windows Tilt & Inswing:

• All windows exceed required code size.
• windows have a single handle for quick release
• open windows by pulling into the room. No crank.
• Screens are slider style for ease & speed

Egress is about speed and the above-mentioned improvements to windows will increase the ease of operating the window, which means you will get out faster.  Another important benefit is maintaining the amount of space in the well so that firefighters laden with safety equipment – i.e. oxygen tanks – have the room they need to descend into the basement and rescue whoever is inside.

Windows that open outward into the well, in contrast, can severely cut down on that space and hinder the efforts of firefighters, possibly leading to the loss of life.

Not one to rest on their laurels, Egress Pros continue to evolve and improve their escape windows; for example, if somebody is elderly, overweight, or they have some sort of disability, the company has developed an addition to their system with those unique needs and mobility issues in mind as well.

“We're working with a company that makes handles that attach next to the interior of the window on the wall, and it allows people a way to boost themselves up,” Goldbaum said. “That gives people confidence, and when you're confident you're going to move faster. This is taking safety code and improving upon it.”

Goldbaum said that the feeling he gets from not only helping to spread the word on the importance of egress, but also providing firefighters with a means to train with these escape windows – literally learning the ins and outs – is highly gratifying, as his company is providing a life-saving service to the residents of Long Island.

“It feels tremendous. My partner Glen and I are always talking about how good it feels because we are saving people. We're saving both homeowners and first responders alike,” he said. “We just had a past customer call us…we had just installed an egress window in his house in 2021, and he had a fire in 2022. The first responders used the egress to bring the hoses into the basement and extinguish the fire quickly. First responders were able to get in and out, and it limited the amount of damage in this person’s home and prevented injuries.”

The response to their egress training systems has been so overwhelmingly positive that Goldbaum said that Long Island Egress Pros is envisioning bringing their training program to firefighters throughout the United States.

“We went out and patented the whole system, and we're going to start presenting to fire training centers throughout the country. I think that's something that's really, really important to do,” he said. “During Fire Safety month in October,  we were invited to fire house open houses throughout Long Island, and we used that time to demonstrate and educate on egress windows. It’s a great learning opportunity for families.” 

“At Long Island Egress Pros, we believe the most important part of an escape plan is a way out,” Goldbaum concluded.

To find out more, please visit https://www.egresspros.com.