BA & Hazmat

Question 1

Using the correct terminology, identify and fully describe the six (6) component parts of the DRAEGER 7000 open circuit CABA set?

Answer 1

1. Cylinder - volume of 6.8L, 2040L breathable air when charged to nominal pressure of 300bar
2. Backplate and Harness - carbon composite material, carry handles and shoulder yoke S,M,L.
3. Valve Group - pressure reducer valve to working pressure of 7bar. Relief valve vent at 11bar Warning whistle
4. Demand Valve - supplies breathable air on demand, positive pressure, airflow shuts when button depressed
5. Face Mask - Impact and scratch resistant polycarbonate, wide vision large facial seal, 5 point harness
6. Personal Distress Alarm - tally key operated for activation, water resistant, battery operated

Question 2

Fully describe each component identified in question 3?

Answer 2

1. Cylinder - volume of 6.8L, 2040L breathable air when charged to nominal pressure of 300bar
2. Backplate and Harness - carbon composite material, carry handles and shoulder yoke S,M,L.
3. Valve Group - pressure reducer valve to working pressure of 7bar. Relief valve vent at 11bar Warning whistle
4. Demand Valve - supplies breathable air on demand, positive pressure, airflow shuts when button depressed
5. Face Mask - Impact and scratch resistant polycarbonate, wide vision large facial seal, 5 point harness
6. Personal Distress Alarm - tally key operated for activation, water resistant, battery operated

Question 3

A crew member you are working with has had a catastrophic failure of their BA set and you are required to be the provider in a buddy breathing situation. Outline the procedure to be followed?

Answer 3

Remove cap from Buddy Breathing
Connection and place in the
Receiver’s right hand.
Grasp Buddy Breathing Connection in your right hand to maintain contact with Provider

Call ‘TAKE A BREATH’ and press Receiver’s red OFF button.
Disconnect Receiver’s intermediate air supply line at connection and place it in the Receiver’s left hand.
Grasp intermediate air supply connection in your left hand.

Connect the intermediate air supply line coupling into Provider’s Buddy Breathing Connection.

Call ‘PURGE YOUR MASK’. On call purge mask using black PURGE button while holding the mask away from your face (break seal) with your left hand.

Call ‘SAFE TO BREATHE’.
Maintain physical contact.
Both immediately egress to a safe environment.
On call breathe normally, maintain physical contact by grasping the handle of the Provider’s backplate.
Both immediately egress to a safe environment.

Question 4

You are the ECO at an incident and have been instructed by the OIC to immediately evacuate crews working inside due to signs of impending structural collapse. What steps would you take to do this?

Answer 4

There are three methods of attracting the attention of firefighters working inside
a structure:
* A series of short blasts blown on a whistle
* Activation of an appliance’s siren intermittently
* The radio message: “Evacuate, evacuate, evacuate”.

Question 5

What is the purpose of the Super Pass II PDA and what are the five (5) alarms it features?

Answer 5

PDA is designed to attract attention and initiate emergency response to locate a person in need of emergency assistance.

Pre alarm
Full alarm
Manual activation alarm
Low battery alarm
High temperature sensor alarm

Question 6

In order to ensure minimum basic standards for all BA sets they must fulfil what three (3) requirements?

Answer 6

A - A supply of Air or oxygen for normal breathing
I - A means of Increasing the supply of air during periods of heavy exertion.
R - Effective Removal of CO2 produced in breathing.

Question 7

What four (4) factors affect working duration when a fully encapsulated gas suit is worn?

Answer 7

• the physical fitness of the wearer
• the ambient temperature
• exposure to heat sources
• workload of the crew

Question 8

What are the four (4) main ways toxins can enter the body? For each of the ways identified, provide a specific precaution that can be taken, or PPE/PPC that can be worn, to protect firefighters from toxins?

Answer 8

Inhalation - BA, full face mask
Absorption - Splash/Gas suit
Ingestion - Correct decon after incident, face/p2 mask
Injection - Level 2 boots, gloves, tunic, slow movements and avoid sharps.