Firefighter Personal Protective Equipment
Firefighter Personal Protective Equipment
Accidents in the aviation industry are not rampant. However, whenever they come by, they are fatal. Following the fact that accidents in aviation pose mass potential casualty, speed at which firefighting and other emergency respondents arrive at the scene of accident is of paramount importance. Fact-findings hold that the initial mission of firefighters is to ensure security against all risks particularly fire (Hirfs & International Association of Fire Chiefs, 2005). Besides, firefighting personnel seeks to ensure increased survivability of the crew as well as passengers on-board. Today, airport firefighters possess exceptional skills in dealing with airport fires due to advanced training during application of different forms of firefighting (Bell, 2008). Nowadays, means of handling airport fire crisis are of high standards given the fact clean agents are able to use dry chemical used in extinguishing burning aviation fuel around an aircraft for maintaining an evacuation path for passengers and crew on board to exit the fire stricken area. This paper will seek to discuss how current firefighter personal protective equipment has evolved for use against combating aircraft accidents.
Most of the firefighting apparatus that are common within the current airports have come a long way. The history of firefighting personal equipment is long. Acknowledging the works of prominent scientists who invented most of the apparatus that aid to todays safety in case of fire is of considerable vitality (Marlon, 2003). For instance, in 1654, all Philadelphia homesteads kept a bucket of water at the front stoop every single night (Benton, 2005). Ideally, this water was intended for use by the initial firefighters commonly known as “bucket brigade” who threw it towards fires. As time went by, the people of Philadelphia witnessed the invention of the first hand pumped fire engine in the year 1719 (Heine, 2002).
So gone are the years when firefighters used to wear helmets made of cork and brass. Currently, there are modern helmets with more ability to protect firefighters from risks involved in combating airplane fires. These modern helmets are made of glass fiber, a composite material which has the standards required to protect firefighters from injuries. These helmets also have a heightened penetration resistance and a high impact shell which is able to withstand very high temperatures. Moreover, it consists of a revolutionary lamp system (Holanda, 2009). This new system incorporated at the top side of the helmet is easily detachable making it useful as a hand lamp. It also has a face shield to protect it from breakages and has an eye protection visor (Marlon, 2003). Generally, there has been transformation in the manufacture of helmets equipped with high standard technology to fit the current demand and situation.
Firefighting suits and masks in