October 2007 We’ve Got You Covered by Will Grilliott Isn’t All Bunker Gear Pretty Much The Same? Isn’t all bunker gear the same? After all, material is material, thread is thread, sewing is sewing and reflective material is reflective material. And if it meets National Fire Protection Association standards, why not just purchase the cheapest? You can get a very basic car that meets the minimal standards, and that’s what you get – the bare minimum. You can buy a low bid, simple and basic piece of fire apparatus that will meet the minimal standards, and when things go right and the runs are few, it will do a fine job. And of course your home, if you consider the home that meets the minimal standards, as long as the “sun shines and the creek doesn’t rise,” life will be grand. But life isn’t always so grand. Vehicles get in crashes, fire apparatus must perform under rigorous conditions and bad weather strikes. And firefighters go to fires. We are creatures of habit who often determine our future actions based upon the past – our personal past. But when we take a look outside of our own lives, we learn about what has happened to others and how that might affect us. It causes us to think. Let’s think about bunker gear. Can low-bid, lowest-cost, standard-meeting bunker gear do a good job? Sure, at least most of the time for a limited period of time. But, what if you are in the toughest of conditions inside a house fire? It’s the same as the low bid, inexpensive basic-material car. Everything is great as long as another driver doesn’t slam into the car – with you and your family in it. Now what kind of car, based upon design and safety features would you wish you were in? It’s really all about risk management. Risk management is a decision-making process involving considerations of economic, design and engineering factors with relevant risk assessments relating to a potential hazard so as to develop, analyze and compare regulatory options and to select the optimal regulatory response for safety from that hazard. Essentially risk management is you (or your department) determining what could go wrong in the environment in which you find yourself. Few occupations have the same risk as firefighting. And while the fire service has greatly improved the risk vs. benefit model, it can be argued that firefighters must take required risks at times in order to save a life. It is during those times when you must ask yourself, what is protecting you. As you are crawling down the hall with limited staffing and people yelling that someone is trapped in the building, hopefully you do not have the cheapest and lowest-bid materials protecting you. Be it a battery in your radio, a valve in the pumper or how the bunker gear you are counting on was designed and manufactured. Standards Are Minimal There are numerous features in bunker gear that must be considered and may cost additional funds. Some people may claim, “if it’s needed, NFPA would require it,” but that’s not the case. Standards are minimal requirements. You and your department have to decide if minimal will work for you. When looking at bunker gear, consider the manufacturer. Who owns the company? What experience does the staff have in the fire service? How about the sales staff? Do the people involved with the company do the job you and I do and understand what we need? Or do they simply make firefighter clothing? There is a difference. When looking at the many features of bunker gear, take a look at the patents that manufacturers have. If it is a great idea, odds are, they will want it patented. Some very important features in today’s modern bunker gear are well worth looking at. Determine how a manufacturer provides firefighters with the highest Thermal Protective Performance (TPP) while also providing excellent Thermal Heat Loss (THL). Features such as forward flex sleeves, full range of motion crotch, kinetic cut patterning and other “stress reducing” firefighter safety and survival options are ways to address the leading cause of death and injury to firefighters – stress related disease and injuries. Bunker gear designed solely to meet fiscal constraints won’t have the design features that provide firefighters with the best protection created specifically for the demands of the job. Off-The-Rack Gear Use caution when it comes to off-the-rack gear that isn’t custom fit for each individual firefighter. Every “large” firefighter is not the same size as every other “large” firefighter; individual tailoring is critical to maximize the safety benefits of your gear. When determining what your bunker gear will be (from a technical specification standpoint) you must consider: • The outer shell, which provides flame resistance, thermal resistance and mechanical resistance (to cuts, tears, and abrasion). There are numerous outer shell fabrics available with pros and cons. • The thermal liner, the layer closest to the firefighter and a critical part of the three primary layers of turnout gear (the other two being the outer shell and the moisture barrier). It usually consists of a non-woven felt or batting quilted or laminated to a woven lining fabric, usually called the face cloth. It is the thermal liner, more than any other component of the turnout gear, that blocks the transfer of heat from the fire environment to the body of the firefighter and contributes the most to the TPP rating. • The moisture barrier, the middle component between the thermal protective inner-layer and the flame resistant outer-shell. It is designed to protect firefighters from penetration by moisture (water) and limited chemicals and body fluids, depending upon your spec. Your moisture barrier should be “breathable,” permitting moisture (sweat) to evaporate, which creates a cooling effect, increasing the total heat loss (THL). So then, if you pick an outer shell, a liner and a moisture barrier, isn’t all bunker gear pretty much the same? Absolutely not. I cannot emphasize enough the need to do honest and fair comparative field tests. Allow the same firefighters to try different manufacturers’ products. Come up with a basic spec, and then ask the manufacturers to provide similar gear, allowing your test team to truly do the comparison. Each test team member should try all brands to ensure that each tester is able to evaluate each product independently. When doing this comparison in the field, be sure the gear is a complete match with the same options, the same size and the same materials. Lift, Crawl And Reach When field testing, look at comfort, access, ergonomic movement and consider how the gear is used on the fireground. Lift, crawl, pull and reach. Look at human stress dynamics, principles of ergonomics and firefighter vocational movement patterns for the most comfortable, least stressful protective clothing products for your personnel. The design differences between one manufacturer’s product and another are significant, and often startlingly so. Each company builds its gear around general philosophies. The real difference in bunker gear isn’t in the material from which it is made. The difference is in the innovative design principles and the corporate history and philosophy behind the science of making bunker gear safer, longer lasting and comfortable for firefighters. This difference has been proven and can make a difference in a firefighter returning home after every run. Editor’s Note: Will Grilliot has been active in the fire service since 2002 and is a member of the West Milton (Ohio) Fire Department. He is a certified Level II Firefighter/Hazmat Operations Technican. Since 1996 he has been with Total Fire Group/Morning Pride, where he oversees inventory and distribution operations. He represents the fourth generation of his family managing the company.
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