Monroe, NC - Scott Safety, a global leader in innovative personal protective equipment, is pleased to announce a new advancement in fire service technology with the launch of the 5.5 Air-Pak SCBA. This new technology reduces profile and weight by increasing service pressure from 4500psi to 5500psi. The 5.5 Air-Pak SCBA was introduced in August and is now in full production.
The 5.5 cylinders maintain SCBA form, familiar to users, but with more than a 10 percent reduction in profile and weight to reduce user fatigue. Another benefit of using a proven SCBA form factor is the ease of department integration without costly infrastructure changes.
“Scott Safety listened to the fire service’s need to reduce the weight of the complete SCBA. Scott’s new 5.5 cylinders takes a concrete step towards addressing this need by allowing cylinder profile and weights to be dramatically reduced with minimal supporting infrastructure changes required,” says John Dinning, Scott’s Product Line Manager for NFPA Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus. “The 5.5 cylinders are available in 30-minute, 45-minute, 60-minute durations. In addition, Scott is introducing a new 75-minute cylinder that will be essentially the same size as a current 4500psi 60-minute cylinder. This extended duration cylinder will be ideal for HAZMAT and RIT applications.”
“As a department, we always strive to keep our firefighters as safe as possible,” declared City of Denver Fire Chief, Eric Tade. “The Scott 5.5 Air-Pak SCBA will reduce weight and profile, which in turn will reduce injuries and increase mobility. These are two important factors in firefighting.”
Chief Matt Morris of the Bargersville (Indiana) Fire Department stated “as firefighters we have to rely on our PPE. The Scott 5.5 provided us the opportunity to decrease our profile while maximizing our air quantity with a quality pack we can count on to deliver that air in extreme conditions.”
To facilitate integration of the cylinders into the fire service and reduce infrastructure costs to fire departments, Scott Safety worked with leading manufacturers to ensure these products work with existing truck seats and brackets already in the market. In regards to 5.5 cylinder filling, a standard 6000 psi compressor will be able to charge a 5500psi cylinder. The Scott Safety RevolveAir Charge Station has also been tested and approved to be used for filling 5500psi cylinders.
In developing this new technology, Scott Safety has partnered with Luxfer, the world’s leading manufacturer of breathing air cylinders. All cylinders have full Department of Transportation (DOT) and Transport Canada (TC) approvals.
Scott Safety has also received its NIOSH and NFPA approvals for both the Air-Pak 75 and Air-Pak NxG7 SCBA. Beyond these approvals, the 5.5 Air-Pak SCBA also meets the stringent requirements to be called Made in the USA, as does every Air-Pak SCBA in production.
About Scott Safety
Scott Safety, a business unit of Tyco International, is a premier manufacturer of innovative respiratory and other personal protective equipment and safety devices for firefighters, industrial workers, police squads, militaries, homeland security forces, and rescue teams around the world. With five global manufacturing locations, Scott produces products that protect thousands of individuals each day from environmental hazards including smoke, toxic fumes, combustible gases, falling objects, and contaminants.