Protective Equipment for Responders

archived

The above grant was competitively awarded under a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) in FY 2018. Funding to the grant recipient was for an 18-month budget period. A NOFO Supplemental Funding and Extension was granted in FY 2021 for an additional 12-month budget period to complete necessary technology design modifications. The Project Performer (TDA) has successfully completed the preliminary design of a powered air purifying respirator (PAPR) designed for use by wildland firefighters, first responders, or anyone affected by the smoke generated by wildland fires. The PAPR Wildland Firefighter Respirator (WFR) device offers HEPA level protection against airborne particles and NFPA 1984:2016 approved protection against chemical vapor hazards – with the exception of carbon monoxide (CO). Currently, no commercially available PAPR WFR system exists that is designed for use during wildland fires that is easy to wear and provides protection for wildland firefighters against the particulate and chemical vapor hazards defined in NFPA 1984:2016: Standard on Respirators for Wildland Fire Fighting Operations, 2016 Edition or other applicable standards as originally stated in the Broad Agency Announcement (BAA). A recent request to the S&T Technology Scouting and Transition Division, Technology Scouting Team yielded a report (October 2020) identifying 28 solutions; however, none of the identified solutions complied with the NFPA 1984 requirement as stated in the original BAA.

High