BREATHING APPARATUS MAINTENANCE: Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Fire Department
MAINTENANCE
Several years ago, the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Fire Department decided that it was necessary to improve the maintenance of breathing apparatus being used. The maintenance program in operation at the time, in our opinion, was not up to our standards. To keep from endangering any of our personnel, the decision was made to implement a new and improved maintenance program. Training Officer G. F. Markey was given the task.
After selecting personnel from those who applied for the intensive training in repair and maintenance, we had technicians from Mine Safety Appliances Company (MSA) conduct in-house training in order to certify qualified fire fighters to service our breathing apparatus. (They are recertified annually.) When this training was completed, two fire fighters from each of three shifts were chosen to maintain the equipment. These on-duty fire fighters are assigned to Station 4 where the SCBA shop is located.
Our SCBA shop is a modern, up-to-date maintenance shop. It is climate-controlled and practically dust free. We believe that the room must be kept at an even temperature and as clean as possible to ensure the best results from the repairs and parts we use. The room is set up so that when the apparatus comes into the shop for repairs, it travels systematically around the room and out the same door – repaired. With this new system, repairs that formerly required days to complete are finished and returned most times in only a few hours.
The department has 100 breathing units and 275 air bottles. We maintain complete records on each regulator and air bottle. These record sheets tell us where each piece of apparatus is, the in-service date, various test dates, and all repairs that have been made. We also have a color-coding system. Each SCBA and each supporting air bottle are color-coded so that anyone can tell at a glance to which fire company a unit or air bottle belongs. This coding system has made it much easier to keep the breathing apparatus in its assigned place.
Most of the equipment we use in our shop is homemade. Budget restrictions and equipment costs will determine how much homemade equipment another department will have to make.
A good SCBA program pays high returns. When we first started our program in 1981, we had to make major repairs to 95 out of 100 breathing units. The total cost for parts and labor was $7375. Since then, one and a half years later, we have had to make minor repairs to only 31 units, at a cost of $1835 for parts and labor.
We not only have the capabilities to perform full maintenance on SCBA, but can perform full maintenance on the air bottles (with the exception of hydrostatic testing).
During the first part of 1982, we submitted a contract for two 5000-psi portable cascade systems and two larger step-in type vans. When this new equipment arrives, we will be fully mobile.
Representatives from MSA have used our SCBA shop as a model for other fire departments who want to start their own maintenance program.
