The National Technology Transfer Center has announced it is helping to commercialize the Bio-Containment System made by Safety Solutions Inc.of Boynton Beach, Fla.

According to NTTC, the system is a self-contained, easy-to-use kit for first responders with all the equipment and procedures necessary for proper sample collection and transportation of hazardous materials.

The product is the brainchild of Jacksonville (Fla.) Fire/Rescue Hazmat Lt. Rick Rochford, who estimates his department responds to 300-500 hazmat calls a year. Rockford also is an instructor in chemical and biological sampling techniques.

"We needed a kit that is as simple as possible for a responder to go to the scene and collect, package, decontaminate and send for testing a sample of a potential biological agent," Rockford said. "Response to incidents that may involve biological agents has become an important aspect of the emergency responder's mission."

Rochford says the system is equipped with all of the necessary tools required to obtain representative evidence samples of biological agents for presumptive testing at the incident scene. It provides the procedures and documentation for establishing proper chain of custody from the field, through the laboratory and into the legal system.

The Bio-Containment System contains "certified clean" sample containers, detailed procedural guidelines, packaging and transportation standards and a four-part chain of custody, which officially follows the path of the sample to the laboratory, including who "owned" the sample during a particular time and what the owner did with the sample.

"The Bio-Containment System is a unique and very effective approach to the management of a biological event," says Mike Lucey, the NTTC's Emergency Response Technology Program manager. "It is a prime example of what the ERT Program is all about -- identifying particular areas of need within the emergency response community and identifying solutions to those needs."

The National Technology Transfer Center, housed at Wheeling Jesuit University in Wheeling, W.Va., helps federal agencies identify commercially promising discoveries, market them to American industry and build partnerships turning inventions into products. Founded in 1998, the NTTC was authorized by Congress and commissioned by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The ERT program is national initiative administered by NTTC  to help bring to market products designed to keep firefighters and emergency responders safe on the job.  It is currently sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and recognized by the Department of Defense as a principal program for transferring DOD technology in cooperation with the seven principal U.S. Fire Associations.

ERT identifies technological solutions by way of commercial off-the-shelf technologies that meet the predefined prioritized needs of first responders, according to Robert Reid of NTTC public affairs. When existing technologies and products can't meet those needs, the ERT Program works with the various federal laboratories, universities and private industry to identify emergent solutions developed through research and development projects.

In 2003, the NTTC helped Safety Solutions commercialize the HazMat Smart-Strip, a cost-effective chemical-detection "warning badge" that assists fire, emergency medical, law enforcement, hazmat and military personnel in detecting hazardous chemicals.

For more information about the Bio-Containment System, call Safety Solutions at 866-248-1050 or visit www.smart-strip.com.

For more information on NTTC, call 800-678-6882 or visit www.nttc.edu.