By Mary Jane Dittmar, Senior Associate Editor
Do you believe that a new device, piece of equipment, or special application can improve your safety when responding to fires, medical emergencies, haz-mat incidents, and special operations? If so, the Emergency Response Technology (ERT) program at the Robert C. Byrd National Technology Transfer Center (NTTC) would like to hear from you. Located on the campus of Wheeling Jesuit University, the NTTC, is a full-service technology management center established by Congress in 1989. It provides access to federal technology information; training in assessing; commercializing, and marketing technology; and assistance in finding strategic partners and developing electronic business services.
Members of the ERT Group, the program’s advisory body, are experienced advisors who represent major emergency-responder associations. Through the use of focus groups and technology-specific meetings, the group determines the industry’s most urgent needs and tries to match technological solutions with off-the-shelf technologies to meet those needs. The solutions are to be affordable and suitable for applications identified as priority needs by senior representatives of the emergency services community.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS)/Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have worked together to identify the needs in more than 40 areas of technology, including fire, public safety, haz mat, and terrorism response. Among the priority areas that have been cited for technological improvement are three-dimensional personnel tracking, chemical and biological identification, communications interoperability systems, and physiological monitoring.
The Inter-Agency Board on Standardization and Interoperability and the Oklahoma City Memorial Institute Project Responder Program provide the DHS with the expertise to support the development of the new technologies.
When existing technologies and products cannot solve the identified problems, the ERT program works with federal laboratories, universities, and private industry to find emergency solutions that had been developed through research-and-development projects. The ERT has developed collaborative relationships with the Natick Army Research Center, the Naval Research Laboratory, and the Federal Interagency Technical Support Working Group on Combating Terrorism. The FEMA and NASA fund the projects.
The ERT has reviewed and evaluated funding proposals from developers for the commercialization of a number of technologies in the areas of biological, detectors, three-dimensional personnel tracking, location tracking, and physiological monitoring.
Top Off II National Exercise
In May, the ERT was part of the Top Off II (for Top Officials) nationwide crisis management exercise. It united FEMA, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Labor, and other agencies in an effort to assess the nation’s capability through federal, state, and local responses in a challenging series of simulated, no-notice, integrated, geographically dispersed terrorism threats and acts.
In Chicago on May 15, a statewide response plan was tested and a number of new procedures were challenged. Some cutting-edge technology was realistically applied, according to Jay Reardon, fire chief, Northbrook (IL) Fire Department and Top Off II organizer for the Chicago exercise.
ERT program officials provided resources and staff and assisted in evaluating and field-testing the technologies and performances of participating emergency responders. Among the highlights of the exercise was the successful testing and evaluation of the TerraSIRch SIRR 3000 Barrier Penetrating Radar, a casualty location and assessment system. A building exploded in the Chicago Top Off II scenario, resulting in a large pile of masonry and steel. Actors within the pile represented entrapped victims; manikins served as deceased victims. The TerraSIRch SIRR system helped rescuers locate live victims in the rubble.
Other products evaluated and tested the TopOff II scenario were the Haz Mat Smart Strip and the Incident Commanders Radio Interface portable system, which offers radio interoperability for emergency responders and their commanders.
The Haz Mat Strip (see above), a baseball-card sized strip made of vinyl and paper, changes colors when exposed to various agents. It was inspired by decades-old military technology, is in production at a West Virginia print shop, and sells for $19. It can detect chlorine, pH, fluoride, nerve agents, oxidizers, arsenic, sulfides, and cyanide in liquid or aerosol form. The strip is in use by fire departments, law enforcement officers, branches of the military, Olympic committees, consumers, and towns near chemical plants. The Miami Dade (FL) Haz Mat Team used the Strip to identify the contents of a leaking dithiophosphate container during a response at Port of Miami.
Safety Solutions Inc, Boynton Beach, Florida, developed the Strip. Inventor Mike Reimer, a firefighter and haz mat technician in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, conceived the idea after years of watching his haz-mat colleagues tape pieces of pH paper and a military litmus paper, called MB, to their uniforms. ERT assisted Safety Solutions from the concept stage of the Strip through its commercialization. ERT built the prototype. (see www.smart-strip.com for additional information).
At press time, the NTTC signed an agreement with the National Institute for Chemical Studies (NICS) in Charleston, West Virginia, to establish a commercialization framework for developing Shelter in Place kits and related materials. The kits would contain information and quality materials needed to protect people at home, school, and work. The NICS will serve as technical advisor to the NTTC for product development.
According to the NTTC, research has shown that a well-sealed structure can protect from exposure to a toxic vapor cloud until the concentration within the vapor cloud outside the structure has decreased to a safe level. The Shelter in Place concept would provide a central location for accurate information and training, kits to be used when sheltering, customized guidance to meet individual needs, and an outreach tool for emergency responders.
Other Technologies
Other new technologies that are under varying stages of investigation/market development include the following:
- A personnel locator/monitor with 3D graphics and the ability to monitor the vital signs of first responders in real time. It is lightweight, and the wireless transmitter will be integrated into personal protective equipment (PPE) ensemble.
- A portable, shock-, water-, and dust-resistant, intrinsically safe casualty locator.
- Enhanced multimission structural firefighting PPE that can be used to protect against multiple hazards.
- One-piece fire protective clothing with improved closures enhancement and locking or integrated gloves/boots and a breathable head.
- A radio-activated, reasonably priced personal alert safety system (PASS) that allows for two-way emergency alerting: manual activation by the incident commander and a visible and audible warning with an audible sound distinct from the normal sound of the PASS device.
- An extended mission or deduced mass mission air supply respirator that is rechargeable with easily obtained sources such as standard air supply equipment or an existing LOX systems.
- A reasonably priced firefighter warning device that can be manually activated by the incident commander and passively activated by remote sensors, issues visible and audible warnings, and stands alone (does not depend on a radio or cell phone).
- A first-responder water-resistant, breathable NIOSH-compliant work uniform that is capable of being interfaced with current respiratory protection devices so as to limit exposure to the user.
- An individual personal alarm monitor that issues an audible and a visual alarm to the wearer and the incident commander by wireless link and provides real-time monitoring for the presence of immediately dangerous to life and health (IDLH) chemical or biological environment.
- FDA-formatted hazard recognition and emergency response decision support documents for first responders that are compatible with palm, power PC, and Macintosh systems; are available on the Web site for downloading; and may have a bar code interface.
- A Patient Care Data System that is durable, waterproof, wristband-mounted; with adjustable data levels for confidentiality and on/off capability; and can be updated.
The ERT has recently submitted a report to Congress highlighting the significant successes and accomplishments of the national initiative that identifies and develops technologies needed by America’s emergency responders. Lucey says the program has made “great strides within the past six months,” focusing heavily on providing technological support to the Department of Homeland Security.
Additional information on the program is available at www.ertprogram.com, or contact Mike Lucey, program director at Mlucey@NTTC.edu.
Mary Jane Dittmar is senior associate editor of Fire Engineering magazine and fireengineering.com. Before joining the magazine in 1991, she served as editor of a trade magazine in the health/nutrition market and held various positions in the educational and medical advertising fields. She has a bachelor’s degree in English/journalism and a master’s degree in communication arts.