We've Got You Covered
By Gary McEvoy

NFPA Revises Rescue and Recovery Ensemble Standard
In my previous article, details relating to the utility ensemble of the new National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1951 Standard on Protective Ensembles for Technical Rescue Operations were provided. This article will present similar information about the rescue and recovery ensemble associated with the 2007 edition of the standard. 

To review some background, NFPA 1951 is the second edition of the standard. The first edition – NFPA 1951 Protective Ensembles for USAR (urban search and rescue) Operations – was published in 2001 and created a singular ensemble comprised of multiple components, such as gear, boots, helmets and gloves. The 2007 edition expands the scope of the standard to encompass three different types of technical rescue ensembles and their requisite components:

• Utility ensemble, which provides protection from physical hazards, a basic flame resistance and a high level of breathability to reduce heat stress.

• Rescue and recovery ensemble, which provides the physical protection of the utility ensemble and a bloodborne pathogen barrier to protect from body fluid infection from injured or deceased victims.
• CBRN ensemble, which in addition to the protection of the rescue and recovery ensemble, provides limited protection from chemicals, biological agents and radiological particulates.

The NFPA committee designed the criteria of these protective ensembles so that each level was built on the protective properties of the previous level and added requirements for enhanced protection. The one exception was garment breathability, which is best at the lowest level (utility) and least at the highest level (CBRN).

Less Breathable
As the garments provide more protection from the surrounding environment in the higher levels of protection – they also become less breathable and therefore, more stressful to the wearer.

Each of the ensembles has its own set of components and testing requirements. Components certified to the 2007 edition of NFPA 1951 will be designated to one or more levels of certification and those levels will appear on all certification labeling.

The overall purpose of the new edition is to establish minimum levels of PPE protection for emergency services personnel engaged in every phase of technical rescue operations.  In expanding the scope of the standard from USAR operations to technical rescue operations, the committee emphasized that “the standard applies to all emergency service organizations that perform technical rescue incident operations.”

The standard has set the requirements for gear, and it is up to individual departments to determine how they should strategically and tactically deploy these tools based on the conditions that they encounter.

Of the three ensembles created in the 2007 edition of NFPA 1951, the rescue and recovery ensemble is the one most closely aligned with the personal protective equipment (PPE) components described in the 2001 edition.

The components included in the rescue and recovery ensemble are garments  – both two-piece and coverall designs – helmets, goggles, footwear and gloves. The standard does not include respiratory protection equipment that is required for technical rescue operations.

The rescue and recovery ensemble shares design elements and testing requirements with the utility ensemble in the footwear, helmet and goggle components of the standard.

The difference between the design for the rescue and recovery ensemble and the utility ensemble is the inclusion of a requirement that rescue and recovery garments shall have a means for securing a liquid barrier to the outer shell.

Moisture Barrier
The addition of a liquid barrier along with some of the design elements outlined below makes the rescue and recovery garments similar to USAR garments developed in the 2001 edition of NFPA 1951:

• Two-inch collars that remain upright after extension to a vertical position and include a closure system.

• Garments cannot have turn-up cuffs and must have a closure system that can be adjusted to provide a secure fit around the wrist.

• All top entry pockets must have cover flap closure systems, and all bellows pockets must have a means to drain water.

• Metal closure systems and components cannot come into contact with the wearer’s body and must be free of rough spots, burrs and sharp edges.

• One-piece coverall torso closure systems must be continuous from the crotch area to the top of the garment at the neck, and pass-through pockets on these garments shall have a closure system that is easily secured and opened by the wearer.

The total heat loss (THL) requirement for the rescue and recovery garment is lower than the requirement for the utility garment because the rescue and recovery garment has an additional moisture barrier.

Test Methods
Other testing associated with the increased performance requirements that have been added to the rescue and recovery level of protection include heat resistance testing to liquid barrier seams, liquid penetration resistance testing, bio-penetration resistance testing and overall liquid integrity testing.

The 2007 edition of NFPA 1951 changed both the test method and performance requirements associated with thermal protection for all three levels of garments. The change in the thermal insulation requirements will result in garments that are more thermally protective than previous standards, yet significantly lower than garments meeting the minimum required in the 2007 edition of the NFPA 1971 standard for structural firefighting protective clothing.

Regarding helmets, the requirements for the utility and rescue and recovery levels of protection under the 2007 edition of NFPA 1951 are the same, so helmets that meet one level will meet both levels and be labeled as such.

The committee responsible for the 2007 edition of NFPA 1951 made a couple of changes to the performance requirements for the utility/rescue and recovery helmet from the 2001 edition of 1951.

Helmets
Both “thread heat resistance” and “label durability and legibility” test performance requirements have been added to the NFPA 2007 edition. In addition, the retention system and chinstrap efficiency performance requirement has been changed from “no failure,” meaning the chinstrap would not break, to specifying that the retention system could not break or show any slip or stretch longer than 1.5 inches.

Like helmets, the design requirements for rescue and recovery gloves are exactly the same as those developed for the utility gloves in the 2007 edition of the standard.

The gloves must meet a minimum thermal protective performance (TPP) that is higher than the 2001 edition of NFPA 1951. In addition, gloves must meet a requirement of not permitting a “time to pain” that is less than four seconds and a “time to burn” that is less than seven seconds when tested for conductive heat resistance in contact with a 536o Fahrenheit metal plate. This means that in a compressed state, the wearer will have a three-second alarm time from pain to burn.

The testing requirements and design elements for boots that conform to the utility and rescue and recovery levels of protection under NFPA 1951-2007 edition are also identical, so boots that meet one level will automatically meet both levels and will be certified and labeled as such.

Boots
The primary change to the 2007 edition boots, when compared to previous NFPA 1951-2001 edition boots, is the addition of a metatarsal guard.  According to the design requirements in the revised standard, the metatarsal guard should overlap the toe cap and extend over the metatarsal bones of the foot. While this is an increased safeguard against objects that fall on the top of the foot, the metatarsal guard is not designed or required to meet the same compression resistance standards at 75 foot pounds as the toe cap is at 2,500 foot pounds.

Like helmets, gloves and boots, the goggle requirements are the same, so goggles that meet the utility level will meet the rescue and recovery level.

NFPA did not set its own separate standards for goggles, but rather referred in all cases to the already existing American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Standard Z87.1 that defines requirements of occupational and safety eyewear, including goggles. 

On Dec. 1, 2006, NFPA issued the 2007 edition of NFPA 1951 with an effective date of Dec. 20, 2006. As is the norm, once a new standard becomes effective, certification organizations, such as Underwriters Laboratory (UL), stop certifying products to the old standard. This is the case with NFPA 1951; so the last date a new product could be certified to the 2001 edition of NFPA 1951 was Dec. 19, 2006.

After a new standard becomes effective, it is published in both a hard copy and electronic copy that can be obtained from the NFPA. The published copy contains all of the design requirements, performance requirements, test methods and definitions that PPE manufacturers must meet to design and manufacture their products.

The standard is further aimed at the certification organization by providing the specific procedures for testing and evaluating products that allow certification of new ensemble elements and components to the new standard. The hard copy version of NFPA 1951-2007 edition was published in April of 2007. 

All new NFPA standards also designate an ending date for the labeling of ensemble elements to the old standard once a new standard has been issued. This practice permits a transition of the industry to the new requirements. In the case of NFPA 1951, the last date that manufacturers could label or have possession of ensemble elements meeting the 2001 edition of NFPA 1951 was Aug. 31, 2007.

While this means that manufacturers have stopped producing any new garments to the old standard, any ensemble elements in the possession of equipment dealers or at departments, which is labeled to the 2001 Standard, is grandfathered and does not need to be tested or certified to the new edition.

PPE manufacturers have been developing new products designed to meet the new edition of NFPA 1951 and the certification organizations have been testing them.

Editor’s note: Gary McEvoy is vice president of marketing for Total Fire Group/Morning Pride, a position he has held since 2002. In that role he directs Total Fire Group’s regional directors and inside marketing associates and is responsible for trade show coordination, field administration, bidding and contract administration.