NEEDA - National Emergency Equipment Dealers Association

The problem of unsafe buildings in California poses a serious threat to first responders responsible for saving lives and protecting property: Should they put their llives and equipment at risk when dealing with a building which has been out of compliance with safety regulations for decades?

The recent California earthquake destroyed or damaged buildings which did not meet a law passed after the 1933 Long Beach earthquake nor a law passed in 1986 which allows local govermments to decide how to reduce the presence of hazardous buildings. Paso Robles CA building owners need not act for at least another decade though some buildings have not complied with safety regulations in over 70 years.

FEMA SUPPORTS CPSC RELEASE OF CARBON MONOXIDE GUIDELINES FOR FIRST RESPONDERS
Originally Posted: December 18, 2003 11:45 AM
Last Updated: December 26, 2003 10:21 AM

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has joined
with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in announcing a new document to help first responders being called to residential carbon monoxide incidents. The new document, titled: Responding to Residential
Carbon Monoxide Incidents-Guidelines for Fire and Other Emergency Responders.

The new document will help responders:
* ensure their own protection from carbon monoxide when entering an occupancy;
* confirm whether a carbon monoxide hazard exists;
* make a preliminary assessment of potential sources of elevated carbon monoxide;
* give advice to the occupants on how to prepare a home for re-entry;
* promote carbon monoxide awareness and safe practices throughout a community.

You can read and comment on this new document. Click on the headline to this NEEDA Newsletter story to get more info and the web site for this publication.

XYBERNAUT OFFERS 360 DEGREE VIEWING FOR HQ AND INCIDENT COMMANDERS TO SHARPEN DECISION MAKING TO SAVE PROPERTY AND LIVES
Originally Posted: December 18, 2003 10:57 AM
Last Updated: December 18, 2003 10:57 AM

It is now possible for a HQ or incident commander to see an emergency site as if he or she were actually in a particular fire or rescue vehicle. Therefore, a commander can now view an entire incident from several fire trucks installed with 360 degree imagery. These trucks would be located at various position on the perimiter of the incident, giving the commander a complete picture of what the first responders are facing and what assets or impediments might be in the area.

Live geo-coded location view images that allow a viewer to "see" images as if he or she were actually in a vehicle being tracked is now available for both commercial and military use, from Xybernaut Corporation (Fairfax, Virginia). The new equipment features proprietary Location View System (LVS) technology (developed in Tokyo, Japan).

The LVS is a unique multi-headed and fully automated 360-degree panoramic image capture and mapping system that rapidly produces geo-coded location view imagery as it moves or is moved throughout a city, military or industrial complex, recreational area, building or campus environment of any type -- either indoors and outdoors.

CONGRESS APPROVES APPROPRIATIONS FOR 04 MATCHING FIRE ACT GRANTS; 177 NEW GRANTS OKd UNDER 03 APPROPRIATIONS; 6,600 HAVE RECEIVED $495 MILLION IN 03
Originally Posted: December 12, 2003 8:18 AM
Last Updated: December 12, 2003 8:22 AM

The Federal matching Fire Act Grant program will provide faster funding in 2004. Why? Because Congress has already passed the Appropriations bill which includes the Fire Act grant funds. Thus, in 04 there will not be the long delays experienced in the first few years of the program in which fire departments waited many months before the annual program was officially launched. As the Congress comes to a close for 2003, there are still appropriations bills to be passed but they will roll over into 2004 under a continuing resolution. Once 2004 comes, they will be revisited thus delaying many programs whose fiscal year began October 2003. But there will be no delay in getting the 04 Fire Act grants off the ground.

PENNSYLVANIA FIRE DEPARTMENTS RECEIVE NEW MATCHING FIRE ACT GRANTS; BRINGS TOTAL TO $36.6 MILLION IN FY 03
Originally Posted: December 5, 2003 9:12 PM
Last Updated: December 5, 2003 9:12 PM

More than 19,950 fire departments nationwide applied for matching grants under the Assistance to Firefighters Program. In Pennsylvania, 1,660 fire departments applied for the grant money. Authorized by the federal Fire Act, the program this year allocated $750 million in direct assistance in support of the nation's firefighters and the services they deliver. To date, Pennsylvania has received $36,610,272 in fiscal year 2003 federal Fire Act grant money.

Click on the headline for more info or use "Search" for many other NEEDA Newsletter stories about Fire Act grants.

FERRARA FIRE APPARATUS OFFERS OIL FILTRATION SYSTEM TO REDUCE OPERATING COSTS OF FIRE VEHICLES
Originally Posted: December 4, 2003 10:50 AM
Last Updated: December 4, 2003 11:07 AM

Chris Ferrara, President and CEO of Ferrara Fire Apparatus, Holden, LA,: "Our Company is dedicated to bringing quality innovative equipment to the fire services. It is for that reason we are proud to be associated with puraDYN in announcing the availability of the puraDYN(R) bypass oil filtration system as standard on all our premium chassis. This system, which helps to safely extend the departments' oil drain intervals, will reduce the life cycle costs of the apparatus as well as improve availability of the equipment."

Ferrara Fire Apparatus, Inc., manufacturer of custom-crafted emergency fire and rescue response vehicles, will install the puraDYN, Boynton Beach FL, bypass oil filtration system as standard equipment on its premium chassis.

For the complete story, click above on the headline of this NEEDA Newsletter story.