[Music] [Homeland Security Science and Technology]
[Burn Saver]
[Mary Kate Black] I've had three incidents where my face piece grazed once it bubbled, the incidents
where in a control burn twice and then an actual structural fire once.
[William Deso] If a firefighter get into a thermal environment that could cause damage to the
face part of the respirator. It could cause either crazing, which is like a
bubbling effect that limits visibility or in extreme cases it can actually melt.
Burn Saver is a device that was developed to give first responders a warning when they're in a thermal
environment that could cause degradation to their personal protective equipment, specifically
the face piece. The self-contained breathing apparatus. The Burn Saver device has five
thermal sensors. There is a software inside the Burn Saver that compares
thermal profiles against possible threat levels. So basically
a firefighter enters a thermal environment, it's comparing
the outside temperature that the sensors record with the internal database that's
contained in the software. [Steve Birnbalm] Given how conditions can sometimes change rapidly.
Sometimes our activities take our focus away and distract us, having something
that can continuously pay attention to the conditions and
alert us to any dangerous conditions that are coming up is very important.
[William] But Burn Saver can detect a condition that cause problems for the integrity of the face piece.
It can alert in three different ways. One is a blinking or a steady blue light.
The other is an indication through a radio channel that
a command post. The third is an indication in the firefighters heads up display contain
in itself in a self-contained breathing apparatus mask. [Lori Brill] I can see on a monitor what firefighters
are being exposed to versus just relying on what is
happening with the outside of the structure. [William] We conducted a field assessment of the Burn Saver at the
National Firefighter Academy. What we wanted to know was if it was going to interfere with
the normal activities that the normal activities that the firefighter had to perform. The general impression
by evaluators was very positive. They made some recommendations
to make some fine tuning and to make the alarm more visible.
But overall they liked the concept and they thought it would be something very worth while
[Lisa Pine] This technology absolutely address something that's important to us. As our PPE improves
and gets more and more advanced, we're able to spend more time in hotter conditions
and the weakest part of our ensemble is the face piece.
So having this technology to help us prevent that failure is very important.
For more information: first.responder@hq.dhs.gov
Homeland Security Science and Technology
[Fire crackling music]