by Joshua Rhett Miller
MURRAY HILL. Malfunctioning safety devices are threatening the lives of thousands of firefighters across the city and more than a million nationally, a local lawmaker said yesterday.
Sen. Charles Schumer said the device - a Personal Alert Safety System (PASS) - is a motion sensor designed to repeatedly emit a bright light and a high-pitched noise if a firefighter stops moving while battling a blaze. Schumer said a "small percentage" of the devices have malfunctioned under typical exposure to heat and water conditions, including one used by city firefighter Thomas Brick, who died during a mattress warehouse fire in December 2003. Brick's alarm was emitting a very low sound and may have had an electrical short, according to the senator.
"Our firefighters and fire officers are first-rate. They shouldn't be carrying second-rate equipment," Schumer said outside of Engine Company 16/Ladder Company 7. "The least we can do is make sure that they have the best equipment. There should be no questions asked about it."
Schumer said roughly 15 firefighters have died nationwide in the last decade when their PASS devices failed. Last April, an upstate New York firefighter lost his arm in a roof collapse after he was trapped for 17 minutes with a malfunctioning PASS device. An estimated 1 million U.S. firefighters use the device, including tens of thousands in New York, Schumer said.
The alarms cost roughly $200, Schumer said, but are typically integrated into a $3,000 breathing apparatus that is expected to last up to 20 years. The senator said the National Fire Protection Association documented flaws and issued higher standards for future devices, but did not offer plans for testing devices in the field. He also called on the United States Fire Administration (USFA) to lead a coordinated inspection effort of new devices with the National Institute for Operational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the National Institute of Science and Technology.
USFA spokesman Tom Olshanski did not return a message seeking comment yesterday. An FDNY spokesman declined to comment.
"Today we're sounding the alarm on these alarms," Schumer said. "Firefighters are our last line of defense. These devices are supposed to be their last line of defense — they've got to be made better."
 |
