| South Yorkshire FRS becomes first fire service in the UK to equip its firefighters with new PPE |
South Yorkshire FRS have become the first fire service in the UK to re-equip its firefighters with new PPE incorporating a PBI black outershell. Bristol’s Ergotech Action™ structural kit is being supplied as part of a Fully Managed Service Contract (FMS) and has recently been deployed for its 900 firefighters located at 23 fire stations across the county.
This is just one of a number of recent PPE contracts which have specified new coat and trouser combinations as fire & rescue services take advantage of the latest technical fabrics and wider colour options. West Midlands Fire Service took delivery of their new navy and red PPE using a Nomex Titan™ outerlayer during last summer, which is part of an 8 year head-to-toe supply contract requiring 1800 sets. Devon & Somerset have ordered a further 1000 sets of PPE incorporating a Nomex Titan™ outershell.
The Channel Islands have become an interesting Bristol success story across the emergency services sectors with their PPE now being supplied for firefighter structural use, airport firefighting and ambulance services. Both Guernsey and Jersey airports are using Bristol fire kit. Alderney and Guernsey firefighters are now both wearing Bristol PPE with Guernsey Fire & Rescue becoming the first Bristol user in the UK to use PBI Matrix as the outershell of its new structural PPE which was deployed in December.
Kevin Murphy, Station Manager at Guernsey Fire and Rescue Service commenting on the recent deployment said, “In 2010 we started looking at replacement fire kit, as ours was coming to the end of its operational life. We looked at a number of manufacturers along with the different designs that they offered, and ran extensive trials with those that best suited our needs. After careful consideration we selected Bristol Uniforms Ergotech Action™ with a PBI Matrix outer shell as our choice – the combination of garment performance, ergonomics, manufacturer support and cost made it the best product for us”.
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| Fire & rescue services are taking advantage of the latest technical fabrics and wider colour options |
He added, “This fire kit has been on the run for a while now, and has been extremely well received by the Service. As with any launch we had some teething problems, but Bristol Uniforms have given us all the help and support we needed to make this as smooth as possible. Overall, it’s a great product from a company that is giving us fantastic customer service. We’re a small service with an establishment of only 70 firefighters, but we get “big company” back up from Bristol Uniforms with whom we have an excellent working relationship. We were the first UK FRS to equip our personnel with Gallet helmets, and now we’re the first UK FRS to equip our personnel with a Bristol Uniforms fire kit with a PBI Matrix outer shell: it’s good to know that we’re keeping up our record of being innovators in PPE”.
In other developments, more fire services are including USAR kit as part of their PPE wardrobe which has resulted in both West Yorkshire and Hereford & Worcester fire and rescue services recently taking 50 sets each.
Industrial firefighters also feature, with the recent purchase of Ergotech Action™ fire coats and trousers by Derby based Rolls Royce Submarine Nuclear Power Plant for their firefighters and special Nomex coveralls for their Health Physics team.