A Last Chance for Life

A Naugatuck firefighter is trapped inside a burning building with only seconds of air left in his tank. As he takes his last breath, the firefighter’s mask suddenly clings to his face like a suction cup the size of a dinner plate. Panic sets in. If the firefighter removes his mask, he will die. Yet he cannot hold his breath long enough to find a way out of the burning building.

Enter the Last Chance Rescue Filter. Described by the manufacturer as a “parachute,” the device snaps onto a firefighter’s face mask and uses a three-stage filter to convert smoke- and fire-filled air into breathable atmosphere for about 15 minutes — enough time for the firefighter to get out of the building or to be rescued. Developed by Essex PB&R of St. Louis and patented by a New Haven firefighter, the Last Chance Filter is being deployed by big-city fire departments across the country to save the lives of trapped firefighters.

Now the Naugatuck Fire Department has added this potentially life-saving device to its arsenal of firefighting equipment.

A Connecticut Native

Although the Last Chance Rescue Filter has migrated to fire departments nationwide, its birth occurred in Connecticut in 1996 when New Haven Firefighter Eric George received a patent for an “emergency smoke filter” device. George signed a license agreement to develop the filter with a company called Brookdale, but the organization went out of business when one of its other products was recalled. After 2006, Essex PB&R swooped in to purchase most of Brookdale’s intellectual property and signed a new agreement with George to develop his filter.

Things kicked into high gear in September 2007 when the filter was used during a live-burn test in Hamden that was held in conjunction with the Yale School of Medicine. The study found that in most cases there is still technically enough oxygen inside a burning building to support life — an important finding since the Last Chance Filter does not generate oxygen, but simply converts toxic air into a breathable atmosphere for a short period of time.

With this important bit of knowledge in hand, Essex PB&R began working with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to certify the Last Chance Filter for widespread use.

“This particular device does not meet OSHA regulations,” explained Naugatuck Fire Chief Kenneth Hanks. “If you’re working in a toxic atmosphere, you have to have an air supply. OSHA does not recognize using filters in a toxic environment, and for a couple of reasons: If there’s a low level of oxygen, the filter will not provide oxygen, and a typical filter will not filter out all the toxic gasses that are in smoke.”

As is common with many new technologies, there are no standards written for devices like the Last Chance Filter, which is part of the reason why it has not yet been certified by NIOSH — a process that is currently ongoing. There is also a concern that some firefighters might abuse the technology instead of recognizing it for what it is: an absolutely last-chance, no-other-options safety net.

Yet this is also one of the reasons why the Naugatuck Fire Department was selected to receive the Last Chance Rescue Filter from Essex PB&R at no cost after signing a variance with the borough.

“Part of getting this filtering system into place is also to train firefighters not to get into a situation where they need to use it,” Hanks continued. “We’re not giving them the filters and saying, ‘OK man, just call if you run out of air. Put this thing on, and we’ll come get you.’ We’re trying to recognize the danger signs and recognize when you’re lost.”

An Important Tool, An Important Lesson

Naugatuck Firefighter James Ricci Jr., president of Naugatuck Firefighters Local 1219, was one of the people who participated in the live-burn test in Hamden in September 2007. With help from his brother, a New Haven firefighter who worked with the filter’s inventor, Ricci was also instrumental in getting the Last Chance Filters donated to Naugatuck.

While the filter promises to be an essential piece of equipment for firefighters the world over, Ricci feels that it is especially important for small fire departments — departments like Naugatuck.

“We’re fighting the same fires that the cities of New Haven or Waterbury fight with 24 guys, but we’re doing it with eight,” Ricci explained. “By OSHA, we’re supposed to have a rapid intervention team in case a firefighter goes down. We don’t have the manpower to fight the fire, never mind have a rapid intervention team on scene as soon as we arrive. Your larger cities earmark an engine for that task — we don’t have that affordability. So as a last resort, if and when you were to run out of air, you plug this in and hopefully get out of the building.”

Hanks agrees: “It’s an extra level of protection. We can’t send a group of four in to do a search. For example, we may be operating in groups of two. If those two people get separated and run into trouble, this is an extra piece of safety equipment they’ll have.”

Both Hanks and Ricci emphasized that there will be strict guidelines in place to ensure that the equipment is used only in life-and-death situations. This process begins with writing regulations for the device and ends with training for all of the department’s firefighters.

“It’s going to be policy driven, so there’s going to be a procedure in place of when to use it if in fact you are trapped or disoriented or lost,” said Ricci. He added that each firefighter on each shift rotation will be given training with the device in which he or she will have to call a mayday and then switch over from the air tank to the filter.

Of course, the firefighters will be using an inert “training” filter for their lessons, since each Last Chance Filter can only be used once and for a limited amount of time once it has been removed from its airtight foil packaging. The filters cost about $150 each.

The Last Chance Filter also has the added benefit that it facilitates the faster rescue of a downed firefighter. Since the filter snaps directly onto the firefighter’s mask, there is no need for rescuers to fumble with getting all of the breathing equipment back in place — a task that is virtually impossible while wearing department-issued gloves. Instead, rescuers can simply unsnap the filter and snap on a new air regulator for the downed firefighter.

“It’s proven that this would aid in getting the downed firefighter fresh air faster,” Ricci said.

For the Naugatuck Fire Department, the Last Chance Rescue Filter may someday go a long way toward preserving the lives of borough firefighters.

“The guys are pretty excited about it,” said Hanks. “They recognize the importance of this piece of equipment and how it can save a life.”