Fire District 7 Upgrades Airpacks
PRESS RELEASE
Firefighter safety and improved firefighting efficiency are two of several reasons Fire District 7 is pleased to have 37 new sets of self-contained breathing apparatus.
We are extremely pleased to have been able to purchase these SCBA kits to replace the breathing apparatus we’ve been using in this department for 15 years. SCBA’s are the most critical piece of personal protective equipment used by a firefighter.
An SCBA is a device that delivers breathable air from a compressed air tank to an air-tight mask to protect firefighters exposed to environments with oxygen deficiency, smoke and toxic gases. These new devices have changed and improved along with other firefighting equipment and technology through the years. The new equipment has features that will give firefighters more confidence in their personal safety, allowing them to attack structure fires more quickly and perform interior attack and victim rescue more safely.
Our previous breathing apparatus were wearing out and some had begun to fail, with seals on the face masks beginning to have leaks, straps fraying and parts breaking. Repairs had become more difficult because replacement parts were becoming harder and harder to get.
The new gear also has improved radio interfacing and voice amplification which is critical to the coordination as they are fighting fire inside a structure.
An enhanced low-level alarm built into the new SCBA’s alert the firefighter sooner when their air tank is nearing empty so that they may better judge when to move out of a possibly dangerous situation before they run out of breathable air. In addition, a Buddy Breather will enable sharing air with firefighters experiencing low air emergencies. The air-packs also feature a rechargeable battery which will greatly reduce the department’s battery usage as the old air-packs constantly needed batteries replaced.
The better and safer the equipment, the better we can respond to those emergencies, It goes hand in hand. Fire District 7 is proud to be able to provide our firefighters with this much needed upgrade.
A large portion of the funds were provided to the district by a generous donation from Life Support I-90.
Learn more about Life Support I-90