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An important update on air cylinders
and PASS devices was issued by the International
Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC). The
text of the release is found here:
Fairfax, VA, December 7, 2005
In the past several days, there has
been a great deal of news circulating
regarding fire equipment. Below is a
brief update on two key equipment issues:
air cylinders for SCBA and PASS devices.
For complete details, go to the IAFC
Web site at www.iafc.org.
AIR CYLINDERS - Recently there has
been discussion in the fire service
regarding SCBA cylinder interchangeability.
The International Association of Fire
Chiefs (IAFC) has reached out to a number
of organizations who are working on
this issue, including the National Fire
Protection Association (NFPA), the InterAgency
Board (IAB), and the National Institute
for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH),
so that we may clarify some of the issues
and concerns in the community. After
reviewing much of the information circulating
about the issue, the IAFC has developed
a summary that answers many specific
key questions.
This summary is available on the IAFC
Web site at http://www.iafc.org/associations/4685/files/Air_Cylinder_FAQs.pdf.
The IAFC urges fire chiefs to review
this document and to check the IAFC
Web site, www.iafc.org periodically
for updates on the issue.
PASS DEVICES - Exposure to high temperature
environments may cause the loudness
of PASS alarm signals to be reduced,
potentially causing the alarm signal
to become indistinguishable from background
noise at the incident scene. This problem
was brought to the attention of the
NFPA Technical Committee on Electronic
Safety Equipment by the National Institute
for Occupational Safety and Health's
(NIOSH) Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation
and Prevention Program (FFIPP).
NIOSH reported that during the investigation
of four fire fighter fatalities that
occurred from 2001 to 2004, the PASS
alarms were not heard or were barely
audible. The PASS units in question
had been certified as compliant to NFPA
1982, Standard on Personal Alert Safety
Systems (PASS), 1998 Edition, and involved
both stand-alone PASS and SCBA-integrated
PASS.
For more information, visit the IAFC
Web site at www.iafc.org.
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