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We have six responders from across the United States here this week

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and we're evaluating communications equipment.

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Things like headsets and microphones that are specially designed to be used inside

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Level A personal protective equipment suits.

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Like the big, big bubble suits you'll see guys at a HAZMAT scene wearing.

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This is a National Urban Security Technology Laboratory,

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that's a Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Laboratory

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and they have a SAVER program. The SAVER program is

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System Assessment and Validation by Emergency Responders.

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Communications means everything to us

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When we're in our gear it's a challenge and we're always looking for areas

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where we can make that better and-and enhance our communication ability.

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Some of the challenges we have are the structures themselves that we go inside of and

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the difficulty for the communications to get out of those buildings

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It also becomes challenging when we're in our gear and we have our breathing apparatus on

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for the receiver of those communications to be able to interpret what's being said by the sender.

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The SAVER Program is a program that helps first responders with some of the equipment

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concerns and considerations that we have.

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It's been an opportunity for us to assess reliability as well as

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placement of the different components looking at whether or not it's resistant to the moisture.

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Looking at the durability, the usability, the life expectancy

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the ease of repair of different types of in-suit communication systems.

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There are some organizations that need to keep very tight budgets

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So cost is one of the main things, but that cost needs to be in comparison

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to the quality of the communications because ultimately

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the quality of communications and the usability and durability

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of the equipment become very important.

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SAVER takes this information from these evaluations and they make a

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public document that supports first responders

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and then those first responders can take a look at this report and say,

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"I have this much funds allocated to this equipment. How do I get the best for my buck?"

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I can't recommend enough for responders to get involved in the SAVER Program.

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It's been an invaluable opportunity for us to look at emerging technologies

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to get our hands on that equipment, test it out

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validate our assumptions or expectations of how it will perform

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and then getting the opportunity to share with other responders from around the country.

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It's been a great experience.