Saturday, November 21, 2009

First Breath 

By Michael J. Wallace

SCBA gives firefighters the power to save lives. And although the early versions weren’t as light, durable or reliable as today’s SCBA, their effect on firefighting was just as profound....

UL Offers Turnout Certificate Program 

Underwriters Laboratories has a new certificate program for firefighting garment repair organizations. The program allows groups that repair structural...

IMF Offers Cancer Tips 

The International Myeloma Foundation issued the first guidelines for firefighters for the prevention and treatment of myeloma, a cancer of cells in the...

UL Offers Certificate Program for Turnout Menders 

The program allows groups that repair structural and proximity firefighting garments to NFPA 1851, Selection, Care and Maintenance of Protective Ensembles for Structural Fire Fighting and Proximity Fire Fighting, to obtain formal certification....

Fire Research Foundation Receives FEMA Grant 

The Fire Protection Research Foundation's $990,000 grant will support research in fire safety code compliance, firefighting tactics under wind-driven conditions and thermal capacity of firefighter protective clothing....

Keep It Clean 

By Rick Markley

Most agree that NFPA 1851 compliance protects crew and gear. There are just different ways to get there....

NFPA Updates PASS Standard 

The National Fire Protection Association has updated NFPA 1982, Personal Alert Safety Systems, to address safety issues first discovered in December 2005. The 2007 edition of NFPA 1982 contains revisions providing for strengthened performance requirements and testing regarding the alarm signal degradation issue. The new edition also addresses other issues, including problems caused by vibration, probably during transportation, and water ingress into the electronic and power supply compartments....

IAFC Offers PASS Device Safety Tips 

As MSNBC.com and NBC Nightly News continue to report on the issue of PASS devices failing in high temperatures, the International Association of Fire Chiefs is offering several recommendations for PASS device safety in fire departments. ...

Bunker Gear Survey Needs Your Measurements 

The National Fallen Fire Fighters Foundation and the Fire Apparatus Manufacturers’ Association are trying to obtain better information about the size, shape, weight and reach of firefighters wearing bunker gear. This information will help manufacturers design products that are better configured to fit today’s firefighters....

Bottle Service 

Self-contained breathing apparatus are right beside radios in the quest for interoperability and interchangeability...

Dress the Part 

By Donna Brehm

As the release date of a new NFPA standard approaches, we NFPA standards committee members are filled with a moment-of-truth type of trepidation. We look...

NIOSH Offers Updates on PPE Activities 

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory has established a new service to automatically send information relevant to personal protective equipment documents and meetings to subscribers....

First Responders Need Special Gear for Special Tasks 

Erin Lang, RAE Systems

First responders deal with an almost unimaginably wide range of hazardous environments, and radiation detection technologies have been developed to better...

Fashion Forward 

By G. Jake Jaquet

Turnouts. Bunkers. Personal protective ensembles. Regardless of what you call them, the coats, pants and associated garb a firefighter wears at a fire...

Vapor Wear 

By Gregory Socks & Robert Stephan

The awareness of chemical and biological terrorism has grown dramatically over the past few years. Since the anthrax attacks of 2001, significant concerns...

OSHA Revises Respiratory Protection Standards 

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has revised its standards for respiratory protection programs to incorporate “assigned protection factors” that indicate the level of workplace respiratory protection a respirator or class of respirators is expected to provide....

Burgundy Turnouts? 

By Janet Wilmoth

Last week while I was in London, I had the opportunity to visit the London Fire Brigade Museum. Since my first visit 20 years ago, the fire museum has grown from two rooms to two floors, with separate rooms displaying items that depict or are actually from 400 years of fire history...

NIST Software Provides Fire Gear Selection Insight 

Firefighters know that protective turnout gear can save their lives. Yet because there are several different attributes of protective performance, choosing the turnout gear system that best matches desired performance can be complicated. Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have released a free software tool designed to help...

Wet-Suited 

By Phil Turnbull & J. Michael Turnbull

Water rescues require an agency to identify needs and training levels....

NFPA Seeks Comments on Proposed Changes to SCBA Standards 

The NFPA Technical Committee on Respiratory Protection Equipment has issued a report on the proposed changes for the 2007 edition of NFPA 1981,Open-Circuit Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus for Fire and Emergency Services. Comments on the proposed changes are being accepted through March 3, 2006....

Deep Breaths 

By Jeffrey Pindelski

Proposed revisions to NFPA 1981 aim to increase safety while emphasizing interoperability....

Virginia Beach Examines Cylinder Explosion 

The Virginia Beach (Va.) Fire Department recently conducted an investigation into a fire and catastrophic failure of a portable oxygen cylinder....

IAFF: PASS Signals Can Fail at High Temps 

Exposure to high-temperature environments may cause the loudness of personal alert safety systems alarm signals to be reduced....

Tech Dependence Needs Simple Cure 

By Mike Chiaramonte

To avoid technology dependency syndrome, train with and without the technology. This ensures that the safest and most efficient action will take place instinctively if the technology malfunctions. ...

Tags, Not It? 

By Matthew Tobia

Who's in the building? It's a simple question but one that far too many incident commanders find themselves unable to answer. The issue of fireground...