Technology is revolutionising the design and use of self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) with modern firefighters being equipped with far more than the traditional helmet and breathing apparatus set. Today’s specifiers have more choice, more levels of safety and more features and benefits to offer users than ever before, writes David Fenton, Head of Marketing, Draeger Safety UK.

In many emergency response agencies, the number of qualified personnel responding on first alarm assignments is all too often limited, yet the demands placed on these responders are increasing. As a part of the solution, TFT has introduced the Typhoon water monitor – a 6,000 l/min (1500 gpm) workhorse that provides a consistently hard-hitting and far reaching stream, either manually or with TFT’s watertight remote control system.

The alpha Personal Network is a system of modular and wireless components designed by MSA. Whether the aim is to just monitor pressure status and motion alarm or if the full extension with telemetry and evacuation notification is required, it can be individually integrated to enhance fire service operation safety and capability as needed.
The newest system component is the wireless Head-Up-Display alphaHUD, which is easily attached to the inside of an Ultra Elite mask. It provides pressure status, alarm information on low battery, pressure and evacuation at the edge of field of vision – hands free.

Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue (UK) has become the first fire service to adopt the new UK national identity for firefighters with the purchase of PPE and station wear.

Belgium-based manufacturer of protective clothing Sioen Industries has launched a number of innovative products to make water emergency response safer for firefighters and rescue organisations.

The IAFC and Fire Recovery USA are announcing a new initiative to inform fire departments about one option for offsetting their costs in a time of shrinking budgets and greater emergency response challenges.

Over 2,000 individuals recently joined Pierce Manufacturing and Harley-Davidson Motor Company in an initiative to support the efforts of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) – an organisation dedicated to assisting firefighter families.

Gerald M Dworkin of Lifesaving Resources explains NFPA 1670 and the importance of PPE in the context of the Fire Department of Keene City, New Hampshire.

Since 9/11, fire departments in major cities around the world have had to decide how to enhance and improve their role to respond effectively against a growing terrorist threat. But what have different brigades done to leverage their existing capabilities and add new ones? In this the first of a series, Fire and Rescue magazine spoke with Gary Dobson, London Fire Brigade’s Director of Operational Policy and Training.

Modern response agencies are faced with an increasingly difficult choice: maintain tried and trusted systems for situational reporting over radio, through exchange of liaison officers, or through centralised briefings – and risk not knowing enough quickly enough – or adopt incident management technology which risks facing their decision makers with information overload.

F&R reports from Bristol International Airport’s fire ground where a team of airport fire officers prepared a range of fire scenarios for the Kuwait Fire Service Department (KFSD) team on the Boeing 767-size fire rig.

Advanced simulation software will be used by the City of New York to train for large-scale incidents.

A growing number of fire and rescue services are now unlocking the benefits of in-vehicle CCTV as an integral part of safety-critical blue light training, writes Jeremy Coleman, Sales Manager, Traffic Safety Systems (TSS).

In recent years, the Angus Emergency Foam Service has mobilised its emergency foam services for incidents in the UK, Japan, Turkey and Spain, and most recently in Libya. Indeed, since its inception in the late 1970s, it has responded to customer requests for large quantities of firefighting foam and equipment by road or air within 24 hours. Depending on the scale and location of the emergency, Angus Fire says that up to 40,000 litres of foam concentrate can be deployed within two hours, with additional stocks following rapidly.

Training with foam is a crucial part of a modern firefighter’s array of tools and one that should not be neglected, explains Luc Jacobs of Solberg Foam.

The US Fire Administration (USFA) has a new Deputy Administrator, Chief Glenn Gaines, former Fire Chief of Fairfax County in Virginia, US. He talked to Fire & Rescue magazine about the challenges facing USFA in the coming years, and its evolution as an educational and research organisation.