New Uses for Surplus SCBA Cases
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Many fire departments are now using walk-away brackets for self-contained breathing apparatus. This often leads to a collection of unused breathing apparatus boxes cluttering up the storage area at the firehouse. The question then is what to do with them. The boxes are generally too good to throw out, but we had no reason to keep them. Now we have developed two valuable and cost-effective uses for them:
- Conversion to a first-aid or trauma kit.
- Containers for hazardous materials tools.
To make the conversion to a first-aid or trauma kit, select a box that is in good condition. The older type (fiberboard with metal-reinforced corners) works best. The corners are square and it is easier to arrange the supplies in the box.
Color identification
The first step in the conversion process is to remove the wood or foam that held the breathing apparatus in place inside the box. The entire box is then cleaned and painted. Color selection is important for the exterior. The trauma kit should be easily distinguished from other equipment carried on the apparatus in similar boxes. The color we chose was international orange because this color along with white is frequently used for ambulances. The addition of reflective stick-on “stars of life” and 1½-inch-high block lettering helps identify the kit.
After several limited successes with many types of paint, we found Varathane paint to be the best for both the inside and outside of the kit. This paint is waterproof, resists scrapes well, accepts stick-on lettering and gives a very professional appearance. Careful masking of the corner reinforcements, hinges and handle allows spray painting and keeps paint off these attachments. It is important that the kit look neat and clean because it often gives the victim or his relatives his first impression of you and your abilities.
The contents of the first-aid kit and trauma kit are different, of course. Our first-aid kits are used for minor and non-life-threatening injuries. Our trauma kit contains the following items: bag-mask resuscitator with oral pharyngeal airways, cervical collars, sterile burn sheets, air splints, major trauma dressings, tourniquet, sterile water, triangular bandages, eyewash, scissors, cold packs, and a selection of dressings and bandages. The items should be neatly and snugly placed into the bottom section of the box. Any small items or those individually packaged must be clearly labeled. To cope with the irregular shapes of some items, unpackaged triangular bandages may be used to fill the gaps.
Snug fit
A standard blanket (folded to the interior dimensions of the box) is then placed on top of the supplies inside the kit before closing the top. This keeps the supplies from moving around in transit. Once at the scene the kit is opened and the blanket removed to expose the supplies. The blanket may be used to protect the victim during extrication, to prevent shock or for the general comfort of the victim.
Having many life-saving equipment items stored in a single portable box is a great help. For example, at an auto extrication, one person can carry the trauma kit from the apparatus, place it near or on the vehicle and proceed to care for the victim with the equipment close at hand. At rescues that are in remote locations or deep inside large buildings, this complete and portable kit may mean the difference between life and death. If a positive-pressure resuscitator (with suction) is routinely carried with the trauma kit, life support ability is enhanced by the addition of oxygen therapy and aspirator capabilities. In short, if the trauma kit is at the scene, your level-1 EMTs will have all the equipment they may neeed for basic life support.
Haz-mat kits
Another practical use for excess SCBA boxes is to consolidate and organize hazardous materials tools. The hazardous materials emergencies kit we designed serves two functional modes. For minor incidents it is used to transport (and deploy) commonly used items for controlling hazardous materials emergencies quickly. At major incidents it serves as an information source for use at the primary command post.
To construct the kit we followed similar steps as for the trauma kit, except the paint color we selected was yellow. Because the equipment we chose to include is generally loose and small in size it was necessary to divide the interior of the kit into sections. This was easily accomplished with sheet aluminum (14 gage, 0.090 inches) placed into the bottom of the box. The pieces were pop-riveted to the side walls of the box. The aluminum is 4 ½ inches high and extends from the bottom of the box to approximately 1 ¾ inches below the upper rim of the bottom section of the case. The compartments divide the case into four small sections and two large sections. The small sections measure 5X8 inches and the large 10 X 14 inches and 10 X 8 inches.
Full vision top
In order to keep the loose contents of the kit in place during storage and transportation, we installed a double layer of clear acrylic plastic to cover the top of all the compartments, with a piano hinge at the back. A small block of wood is attached to the top of the case (inside) to keep the plastic held firmly against the top of the compartments when the kit is closed. (An alternative to using the clear plastic is to simply extend the aluminum compartment dividers from the bottom section of the case to the inside surface of the case top.)
Sandwiched between the sheets of clear plastic is a detailed map of our response area, as well as a blank status board. Using the grease pencil, important information such as the correct spelling of the material involved can be jotted down. Incoming information from such sources as CHEMTREC can also be recorded. The map provides an aerial view of the areas potentially exposed to danger by the incident.
We included the following equipment in our kit: haz-mat reference books, topographical maps of our area, clip board, pens and pencils for note-taking, Duk Seal (clay) for low-pressure leaks, a variety of wooden plugs from golf tee size to 1 ½-inch-diameter (cone shaped), a variety of hose clamps, wire and rubber for makeshift patches, a rubber mallet to drive wood plugs, a screwdriver, pliers, a Crescent wrench, leak-detector fluid. Other desirable items include an explosive-vapor detector, acid proof gloves, clean sample bottle, radiological dosimeter(s) and a Geiger counter.
For quick action
At a minor incident the officer in charge may determine, for example, that a small natural gas pipe has been broken by a back hoe and gas is escaping near a building. The officer, familiar with the hazards of natural gas, decides that he can probably handle the emergency with the tools he has without exposing his crew to any extreme danger. He calls for the kit to be brought to the scene and determines that a medium tapered wood plug will stop the leak. The plug is driven into the pipe with the rubber mallet and the emergency is controlled. The advantage of using the hazardous materials kit is that it allows the company officer to survey his resources very quickly and take action equally as fast since all his tools are already at the scene.
At major incidents the kit will provide valuable organization and information for the first-due officers. For example, the officer in charge might respond to an overturned tank truck that is leaking in a populated area. The driver advises that his cargo is fluorine. Unfamiliar with the hazards of fluorine, he refers to the ready references in the kit. They describe the chemical as an oxidizer, corrosive and a poison. The officer now knows that he has a major incident (or potential) on his hands. Since he cannot control the incident using the supplies of the kit, he establishes a primary command post and proceeds to gather further information and assistance.
Using breathing apparatus boxes saves money because commercially prepared boxes of this type cost upwards of $100. Most important, organizing supplies and equipment in these ways will improve your capability to serve the people in your area.
