Wednesday, February 8, 2012
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...
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...
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...
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....
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....
Deep Breaths
By Jeffrey Pindelski
Proposed revisions to NFPA 1981 aim to increase safety while emphasizing interoperability....
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...
IAFF to Develop CBRN-Ready Turnouts
The federal government has awarded the International Association of Fire Fighters a contract to develop new structural firefighting personal protective...
IAFF Receives DHS Contract to Develop CBRN-Ready Turnout Gear
A Staff Report
Fit to Breathe
By Janet Wilmoth
Shortly before Sept. 11, 2001, a large metropolitan city purchased $7 million in new breathing apparatus for its fire department. Within weeks, they found...
Dress Blues
By Mica Calfee
With changes in society and new NFPA regulations, many departments are weighing their uniform choices. While the trend toward the casualization of work...
Uniforms Offer More Choices
Jim Zahrt USTA Marketing Director
Few images instill as much pride and confidence as that of firefighters in full protective gear on their way to a call. But when the outer gear comes...
4.9GHz Emissions Mask Under Fire
BY DONNY JACKSON
Public-safety and vendor officials have continued their debate concerning the appropriate emissions mask for equipment operating in the newly allocated...
Blow Up
By Mark Brady
Every year on Valor Day, firefighters and paramedics from the Prince George's County (Md.) Fire/EMS Department receive recognition for their heroic acts...
DHS Approves CBRN Ensembles, Detectors
In late February, the Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Division approved standards for first responder PPE and radiological and...
The New Normal
By Mike McKenna
The world order is changing, and many of those changes will have a direct impact on the fire service's role as primary first responder. In that role,...
RISING STAR
By Douglas Page
The dispatcher activates emergency traffic tones, then announces a collapse where firefighters have been trapped. Command adjusts tactics from suppression...
Nomex-based coveralls fireproof U.S. soldiers, save money
Douglas Page
The U.S. Army is making a fashion statement in Afghanistan. Nomex coveralls sent to a group of combat support soldiers participating in Operation Enduring...
New suits chill CBRN responders
Emergency responders working in encapsulated protective suits may soon be more comfortable, thanks to a new portable cooling system under development...
| Commentary | Special Reports | Station Style |
|---|---|---|
|
Mutual Aid is a blog of news and views from FIRE CHIEF staff and industry experts — a virtual conversation about the issues important to you as a fire service leader. |
In Service provides information on fleet management, apparatus specifying and maintenance. Keep abreast of new trends and changes to emergency vehicle apparatus. |
Station Style focuses on the architectural design and needs of fire and emergency stations today. See the latest in design trends and learn about the Fire Station Design Awards. |
