FORT MITCHELL FIRE RESCUE TAKES DELIVERY OF TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED BREATHING APPARATUS
FEBRUARY, 2009
by Captain Kevin Duquette
The Fort Mitchell Volunteer fire department has received roughly $130,000 in new breathing and personnel accountability equipment today. The new equipment will replace older outdated equipment, that while still functional, was not up to the current NFPA (National Fire Protection Agency) standards. This equipment upgrade, which was attained with a grant from FEMA's AFG (Assistance to Firefighters Grant) program, consists of a new compressor to fill the breathing air bottles, new Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA), and a personnel accountability system.
The Bauer Unicus III compressor arrived on a rarely warm February morning loaded on a huge wooden palate on the back of a semi trailer. Don Taapken fired up the older model forklift the department had on loan, and the adventure of unloading the 3500 lbs. compressor began. Battalion Chief Dell Kirkland was overseeing the ground operation with assistance from firefighters; Captain Kevin Duquette, and Wilson Vargas. It was apparent right away that this would not be a straight forward procedure, the large size of the compressor made the operation difficult, but with the skill and ingenuity of the firefighters using cribbing techniques developed for structure colapse and car accidents, they were able to unload the compressor from the truck. After unpacking the large machine from its sturdy wooden palate, the crew, with direction from Fire Chief Bob Franklin, placed the new compressor in its final positon in the fire station. For the next two days curious Firefighters would stop by the station to marvel at the behemoth cream white and blue monster that now took up residence behind the departments brush truck.
A few days later the many boxes of the new SCBA and accountability system arrived to the excitement of the firefighters who have worn the older model SCBA units on many fires. they talked about the lighter weight of the new units and the comfort of wearing them as compared to the older ones. They also had a more serious conversation about the ability to account for firefighters, and alert them of danger electronically anywhere on the fire scene in real time, an event that in the past had been left to the blowing of truck air horns and relaying information person to person. The Fire Dept has stepped into the 21 century, we now have RFID (radio frequency Identification) built in to the individual air packs. This "chip" sends telemetry to a laptop toughbook computer mounted inside Engine 801 and allows the scene Commander to not only see who is "on air" but also monitor who is consuming air faster than normal, a sign of a possible problem. If there is an emergency invovling a Firefighter they can see exactly who it is and when they "went down" this allows the Commander to sound a mayday call much more timely than before, and direct Rescue teams to the last known area of the Firefighter in peril. This new technology could in effect, save the lives of Firefighters who find themselves in a life threatening situation.
Its safe to say that with the new equipment and training that the Fort Mitchell Volunteer Fire Dept is the most technologically advanced Fire Dept in Russell County, but the great part of the new package is that it will help all Fire Departments in the area and the accountability system is expandable to accomodate other departments if they eventually choose to get the compatible equipment.
This has been a great acquistion and free's up the Fire Dept to persue other needed equipment in the future. We are always looking at least 15-20 years down the road in the pursuit of protecting the growing Fort Mitchell community and our dedication to perserving life and property.
