>“We see a fair bit of toxic debris and combustibles when we’re on the fire line as wildland firefighters and I was thinking about why we don’t have sort of designated masks,” said Duguid.
>
>The result is Respire, a sleek-looking respirator that looks something like a scuba-diving mouthpiece and is much smaller than current commercially available respirators.
>
>The device produced by Duguid as his final-year project at Emily Carr is functional and the firefighter of five years hopes to eventually get it on the market, filling what he says is a gap.
>
>Unlike structural and urban firefighters who are all equipped with self-contained breathing apparatuses, Duguid said wildland firefighters have traditionally lacked suitable respirators.
>
>The BC Wildfire Service said online last month that respiratory protection certified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health was made available to all operational staff this wildfire season, on a “non-mandatory, opt-in” basis.
>
>But it said wildland firefighters have historically used bandanas or cloth masks as respiratory protection on the fire line, with these offering “little to no protection” against small particulates in wildfire smoke.
>
>…
>
>For example, he said some working days last 16 hours, with firefighters hiking up hills and carrying 100 pounds of gear and breathing hard, and other times breathing much easier. The key was to come up with a respirator that could be easily deployed for short periods and then quickly removed many times a day.
>
>He said he was helped with the design for Respire by his firefighter colleagues, joking that “they are smarter than I thought.”
>
>The device is only worn in the mouth and does not cover the nose, making it small enough to clip on a shirt pocket for easy access.
>
>Duguid, who graduated from university in April, said he is still fine-tuning the idea.
Love to see this kind of innovation from the front lines, and hopefully he’s able to refine the device enough over the coming months to make this a viable product.
Itchy_Training_88 on
A respirator that you have to hold with your teeth/lips while doing heavy work is not going to stay in.
2 Comments
>“We see a fair bit of toxic debris and combustibles when we’re on the fire line as wildland firefighters and I was thinking about why we don’t have sort of designated masks,” said Duguid.
>
>The result is Respire, a sleek-looking respirator that looks something like a scuba-diving mouthpiece and is much smaller than current commercially available respirators.
>
>The device produced by Duguid as his final-year project at Emily Carr is functional and the firefighter of five years hopes to eventually get it on the market, filling what he says is a gap.
>
>Unlike structural and urban firefighters who are all equipped with self-contained breathing apparatuses, Duguid said wildland firefighters have traditionally lacked suitable respirators.
>
>The BC Wildfire Service said online last month that respiratory protection certified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health was made available to all operational staff this wildfire season, on a “non-mandatory, opt-in” basis.
>
>But it said wildland firefighters have historically used bandanas or cloth masks as respiratory protection on the fire line, with these offering “little to no protection” against small particulates in wildfire smoke.
>
>…
>
>For example, he said some working days last 16 hours, with firefighters hiking up hills and carrying 100 pounds of gear and breathing hard, and other times breathing much easier. The key was to come up with a respirator that could be easily deployed for short periods and then quickly removed many times a day.
>
>He said he was helped with the design for Respire by his firefighter colleagues, joking that “they are smarter than I thought.”
>
>The device is only worn in the mouth and does not cover the nose, making it small enough to clip on a shirt pocket for easy access.
>
>Duguid, who graduated from university in April, said he is still fine-tuning the idea.
Love to see this kind of innovation from the front lines, and hopefully he’s able to refine the device enough over the coming months to make this a viable product.
A respirator that you have to hold with your teeth/lips while doing heavy work is not going to stay in.