The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Law Enforcement Standards Office and its partners will offer documentary standards to first responders as part of a pilot project that began this month and runs through October to help the office determine who needs access to standards in the federal, state and local responder communities, what types of standards they use the most, and how the office can better serve first responders in the future. Documentary standards can specify product characteristics, establish accepted test methods and procedures, characterize materials, define processes and systems, or specify knowledge, training and competencies for specific tasks. Typical subjects include personal protective equipment, detection systems, body armor, urban search and rescue robots, communications systems and biometric identification systems. NIST is working with Science Applications International Corp. [SAI], SAI Global, Inc., ASTM International, IEEE and the NFPA for the pilot project.