What are the pre-alarm and full alarm timings for PASS activation?

What are the pre-alarm and full alarm timings for PASS activation?

• A. Pre-alarm at 20 seconds; full alarm at 30 seconds
• B. Pre-alarm at 10 seconds; full alarm at 20 seconds
• C. Pre-alarm at 30 seconds; full alarm at 60 seconds
• D. Pre-alarm at 5 seconds; full alarm at 15 seconds

Answer: (A)

PASS devices use a two-stage alert to balance early warning with a clear distress signal. After a period of no movement, a pre-alarm sounds to give you a heads-up to regain motion or check your status. If no movement is detected, the full alarm follows, providing a loud, unmistakable alert for teammates to respond. The timings shown—20 seconds for the pre-alarm and 30 seconds for the full alarm—mean you get a soft warning at 20 seconds, then a full alarm at 30 seconds if the condition hasn’t changed. This setup helps prevent nuisance alarms from brief pauses while still ensuring a timely alert in an emergency. Other timing schemes would either trigger alarms too quickly, leading to unnecessary alerts, or too slowly, delaying rescue.

PASS devices use a two-stage alert to balance early warning with a clear distress signal. After a period of no movement, a pre-alarm sounds to give you a heads-up to regain motion or check your status. If no movement is detected, the full alarm follows, providing a loud, unmistakable alert for teammates to respond.

The timings shown—20 seconds for the pre-alarm and 30 seconds for the full alarm—mean you get a soft warning at 20 seconds, then a full alarm at 30 seconds if the condition hasn’t changed. This setup helps prevent nuisance alarms from brief pauses while still ensuring a timely alert in an emergency.

Other timing schemes would either trigger alarms too quickly, leading to unnecessary alerts, or too slowly, delaying rescue.