Low-profile SCBA secures DOT permit
Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment Magazine
A next-generation, low-profile SCBA under development since 2008 cleared a major hurdle last month when the federal Department of Transportation approved a special permit for the device.
Richard Duffy, the assistant to the general president of the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), said the permit was received June 3. "We are now awaiting final manufacturing approval from DOT, which requires a site inspection," he said. "This should be completed shortly."
Duffy, who is responsible for development and implementation of the union's occupational safety and health activities, has been leading the federally-funded effort to demonstrate the value of the new SCBA technology, which involves a slender array of small interconnected cylinders called pressure vessels to hold breathing air.
Early this year IAFF hired MSA to produce a prototype SCBA with a pressure vessel array that is less than half the diameter of a traditional SCBA cylinder and moves the center of gravity closer to the body. The prototype drew positive reviews from firefighters during a field trial in May that was conducted without breathing air because the DOT permit had not been issued at that time.
The IAFF development team applied for a special permit because the pressure vessel array did not fit within any existing DOT equipment categories.
A second field trial that will test the SCBA's breathing air capabilities under live fireground conditions is expected late this summer.
