Grace Industries Inc. recently announced the new “one-of-a-kind” NFPA-compliant firefighter stand-alone Personal Alert Safety System (PASS) and RF PASS. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is responsible for establishing safety standards for the fire industry including fire department personal protective equipment (PPE) which must be compliant with NFPA standards in order to be eligible to receive government funding for purchases.
PASS is a fire industry acronym for Personal Alert Safety System and sometimes referred to as a DSU- Distress Signal Unit. The traditional firefighter PASS or DSU alarm provides only a loud audible alarm in the hopes that another crew member will hear it; no longer will a firefighter need to rely on just audible alarms of a traditional PASS. Grace has designed a new NFPA compliant RF PASS that is both a loud audible alarm and an RF PASS, that uses radio signaling to alert the fire ground and the Incident Commander directly via wireless connectivity. RF PASS provides the Incident Commander the ability to receive wireless RF MAYDAY distress alarm signals from the firefighter and issue automated wireless Personnel Accountability Report (PAR) and wireless EVAC commands.
A problem within the fire industry exists for firefighters who remove their self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) and then continue to work on the fireground during fire overhaul and other operations. Most firefighters today are using PASS and RF PASS systems which are integrated into the SCBA, and require the firefighter to wear the SCBA to use the PASS system. When the firefighter removes the SCBA, and continues to work on the fire ground, it places them in danger and out of compliance with NFPA standards. Grace devices can be moved from one piece of protective clothing to another to keep the firefighter within NFPA compliance at all times.
Grace has solved this problem for the firefighter with their new “one-of-a-kind” standalone fifth generation SuperPASS®5, SuperPASS®5X and TPASS®5 (NFPA compliant standalone PASS and RF PASS). The Grace stand-alone PASS and RF PASS are not integrated into any SCBA and do not rely on a firefighter having to wear the SCBA to stay protected. Grace is the only manufacturer with a stand-alone NFPA compliant PASS and RF PASS that protects every firefighter regardless of whether an SCBA is worn.
A major contributing factor leading to fireground injuries has been congested radio voice channels. High levels of voice radio traffic lead to chaos and confusion, putting firefighters at risk of not hearing critical messages such as the evacuation command or call for PAR; this is a second problem solved by Grace RF PASS and NFPA In-Command® compliant accountability system. The wireless Personnel Accountability Report (PAR) check is a function of the accountability system that significantly reduces radio voice traffic on the fireground while keeping the Incident Commander “in the know” with a full report of acknowledgements from their crew.
Grace has developed the “one-of-a-kind” stand-alone firefighter SuperPASS®5X functioning as a traditional audio PASS alarm that when field upgraded becomes an RF PASS with all of the performance and features of a TPASS®5 for use with Grace In-Command® accountability systems. The SuperPASS®5X is the first device to provide a field upgradable migration path for budget conscious departments and a