The technological advantage

By Dennis Smagac

Modern ingenuity has provided technology that transformed communication, entertainment, transportation, and the way we do business. It has transformed some aspects of emergency response, and improvements continue to be developed.

As the population increases water conservation is more important than ever, changing the notion of water as a widely available commodity for firefighting. Fortunately, Compressed Air Foam (CAF) technology combined with fire suppression formulations offers a viable solution for effective firefighting that uses 78 percent less resources than water alone and knocks down fire 79 percent faster than water alone.

The British Navy experimented with CAF technology in the 1930s. Adding a chemical formulation to water to create foam to extinguish fire can be found in an English patent dated 1877. These technologies have also evolved over time, becoming more effective and efficient. Some systems that deploy CAF have also been evolving into systems that may be used for a wide variety of applications, from fire suppression to decontamination and hazmat remediation.

Today, First Responders have been tasked to respond to a wide range of incidents, whether accidental or man-made. Local First Responders have the advantage of getting to the scene faster to at least contain the incident. A fast and effective response will reduce the incident's economic and social impact. Yet to date, not all First Responders have the tools they need to respond to today's wide range of potential threats. The time and expense required to accomplish this is substantial. Multi-asset equipment, equipment that may be used for more than a single type of incident, can ease the burden on tight budgets. Rather than focusing on equipment training, more time can be dedicated to incident training since the equipment would work in much the same way.

Intelagard equipment has been designed with today's First Responders in mind.

Intelagard systems are easy to use and maintain, with a low cost of ownership. The systems may be used for a wide variety of purposes. While it may generally be expected that the systems will primarily be used for rapid fire suppression, the ability to quickly swap out formulations as appropriate to the incident at hand while using the equipment in much the same manner may provide a level of comfort to Responders when they dearly need it. When seconds count, Intelagard equipment provides users with fast and effective response ability.

During tough economic times, organizations naturally tend to protect their budgets. However, should an incident occur that local First Responders are not equipped for it could cause a significantly greater economic impact than the cost to prepare would have been. There's a correlation between an effective response time and the cost to mitigate and remediate many incidents. It would be wise to also consider the emotional and social impact of a fast and effective local response to a wide range of incidents as well. Everyone wants to believe that they are safe in their own community, and that if something were to happen, it could be dealt with quickly and effectively. 

The availability of fresh water has come full circle. Populations used to settle where water was readily available. Over the years, many came to take water sources for granted. Now it seems that once again the availability of water is becoming a more important social issue. Using water alone to fight fire no longer makes good economic sense, not when systems and solutions exist that more effectively and rapidly suppress fire. Using less water reduces damaging run off and lessens mop up time.

We live in a world abundant with technology. Using technology to our advantage to maintain and protect our way of life, including in emergency response situations, just makes sense.

Biography

Dennis Smagac is one of Intelagard's founders. He combined his expertise in compressed air foam technology with his knowledge of decontamination to create a technologically advanced product line of multi-hazard response equipment for fire suppression as well as decontamination and hazmat remediation.