BAUER at Interschutz 2015
Early April 2015; the scene: Hanover Exhibition Centre. Sirens wail as a fire truck races towards a burning car and screeches to a halt. Firefighters leap out and extinguish the flames in mounds of foam. A few metres further on, clouds of dark smoke billow and flames crackle into the sky. Passers-by might take this for some kind of large-scale emergency response operation – but in fact, the incident is a series of product demonstrations in the activity area of this year’s Interschutz, better known as “Roter Hahn” (“Red Rooster”).
The world’s largest and most important firefighting trade show is held every five years and attracts members of the firefighting industry from every continent throughout the globe. As well as product presentations, the trade show includes live events, demonstrations and competitions in which the best firefighting teams pit their skills against each other.
BAUER KOMPRESSOREN has a broadly focused presence at this major trade show, with its own internationally staffed large-scale stand. The stand contains numerous themed information islands where tailored solutions are presented for every need, from compact filling stations with external display for small-scale firefighting units to an ultra-powerful system with VERTICUS 5 filling station and B-SAFE safety filling ramp – offering effective protection against bursting cylinders or hoses for personnel. The bright red T-COM firefighting trailer attracts all eyes; fully equipped with compressor, storage capacity and filling unit, it is the equipment of choice for US firefighters that rely on autonomous mobile air supply for their long-distance response operations.
However, most of the firefighting teams visiting the stand are interested in the “Air Monitoring” information island. Online measurement – continuous live monitoring of air quality during system operation by the new B-DETECTION series devices – is exactly what these specialist visitors need. After all, safety is paramount, and breathing air is the most important part of a firefighter’s kit!
This fact is also a central focus of operations by BAUER’s strategic partner, the global company DRÄGER. DRÄGER’s Breathing Air Workshop features a complete ready-to-use BAUER filling system, comprising an AERO-GUARD for CO2 extraction, a MINI-VERTICUS III breathing air compressor, high-pressure storage unit and B-SAFE safety filling ramp. In addition, a large-scale BAUER PE series compressor system delivers a secure supply of breathing air for filling respiratory equipment, which is then used on a respiratory training course.
Volker Reymann from DRÄGER gives visitors a tour of the Breathing Air Workshop, where the realistic setup shows exactly how firefighting equipment at a fire station is prepared for use and maintained afterwards. Angelika Sauer, his colleague in charge of planning these Breathing Air Workshops, demonstrates on a monitor how 3D software is used to customise the workshop to the needs and budget of a fire station or firefighting training institution.
Nearby, a team assembled from trade show visitors and equipped with full masks and complete respiratory kits are working their way through the respiratory training course. Pre-incident training and preparation before emergency operations are the watchwords here; all respiratory device operators in a firefighting team must hold G26.3 certification and regularly complete respiratory training courses to prove they have the necessary fitness to perform their duties under severe physical stress. They are first directed to pedal on an ergometer for 15 minutes in full kit – including respiratory equipment – before tackling a course involving a labyrinth of narrow passageways. The stress is further increased by an ear-splitting backdrop produced by noise generators and by flashes of light cutting through the darkness. The course is fully monitored with a network of cameras, enabling the fire chief to intervene if necessary.
In the late afternoon spectators throng to the DRÄGER live fire training unit, where blue steel containers are belching clouds of smoke. A large monitor screen enables the spectators to follow the actions of the firefighting team as they battle the fire (artificially fuelled by liquid gas) in the smoke-filled interiors of the containers – an enormously stressful situation. But the firefighters know they could rely unconditionally on the quality of their BAUER breathing air.
Picture captions:
- The BAUER stand at the Interschutz trade show
- Safe breathing air – the central topic at the BAUER stand
- Outdoor firefighting demonstration
- Using BAUER breathing air in firefighting
- DRÄGER’s live fire training unit with BAUER compressor
- The firefighting team prepares for action
- Volker Reymann from the DRÄGER team explains the BAUER B-SAFE safety fill ramp
Ralf Deichelmann
15.06.2015
