When every ‘second’ counts

Listen to Matt Wrack, General Secretary of the FBU and he’ll tell you that saving people’s lives remains at the heart of a firefighter’s job. According to imperfect government data, over 3,000 people are rescued from fires in England every year and the Fire Brigades Union estimates that 200,000 people have been rescued from fires or vehicle crashes since 1990, when records first began.
That’s a huge amount of people, many of whom might not be here today if it wasn’t for the bravery and speed of response by the country’s firefighters. And that’s why firefighters adhere so strongly to the motto: “every second counts”.
The critical importance of emergency response is of course widely recognised. The House of Commons Communities and Local Government (CLG) Committee, recently stated that “The primary purpose of the fire and rescue service is the prompt and efficient mobilisation of firefighters in response to a fire or other related incident, in order to save lives and protect property”.
So given its obvious importance, is there anything that can be done to provide additional help to the firefighters during those vital first minutes when attending a fire? Well we believe that the Nobel ‘Stat-X’ fast acting aerosol fire suppressant will actually buy time for firefighters as they set-up hoses and evaluate the overall risk situation.
The Stat-X First Responder is a small, light, handheld unit with a pull actuator designed to be simply tossed into areas with active fires to provide immediate fire suppression. It eliminates flashover, and can also provide an emergency egress route through a wall of flames. In fact, so effective is the product that it can also be used by police if they happen to be first on the scene and can slow a fire long enough to allow the fire brigade to arrive and take charge.
Stat-X has proved its effectiveness in use with brigades in the USA and provides considerable benefits including;
– significant fire knockdown and rapid suppression capabilities for enclosed spaces
– environmentally friendly, with no ozone depletion or global warming potential
– no oxygen depletion, suppresses at very low concentrations by interference with free radicals
– safe for firefighters and any occupants trapped by fire
– small, compact and easily portable to point of attack
The Stat-X compound is the most effective fire extinguishing agent currently available and is many times more effective (by mass) than conventional agents. However, according to Bartle, “recognising the tremendous variability of conditions in a firefighting situation, the purpose of the Stat-X First Responder is, first and foremost, for use as an extremely effective tool to knock down, suppress, and limit the growth of fires until other traditional methods are available to put out the fire”.
The aerosol has a long hang time providing extended protection – up to an hour in a truly sealed, confined space with no airflow. However, in the real world, once deployed the aerosol will typically escape through doors, windows, or other openings. Even so, as long as the aerosol cloud is present, it will continue to provide effective suppression.
Fire can grow rapidly therefore the earlier that progress can be halted and disrupted the better chance of survival and reduced damage. Fast effective first aid fire fighting can mean the difference between life and death. Stat-X used as a first responder can make that initial all important difference and at the same time provide valuable support to our professional firefighters.