SE400 fan-supplied,
positive-pressure
demand respirator

Domestic Preparedness
filter

A dual battery doubles your
respirator's operation time

Rescue operations often mean hard physical work in dangerous environments for long periods of time.

These three factors place three specific expectations from your respiratory protective equipment:

Hard physical work
means that your respiratory equipment must be capable of letting you breathe as much air as your body requires. Lifting, climbing, running. Negative pressure respirators (filtering masks) are out of the question at hard work. And a positive pressure respirator must supply air at very high flow rates, or you will out-breathe the respirator.

"Out-breathing the respirator" means that you need more air than the respirator can deliver. Consequently, either you have to stop work and breathe less, or outside air will leak in through the sides of the respirator. Independent tests show that a typical respirator will be out-breathed 90% of the time at hard physical work.

Dangerous environments
have a big influence on your choice of breathing protection:
If the contaminant is unknown, unfiltrable, IDLH (Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health) or oxygen deficient, only a self-contained breathing apparatus (that is, an air cylinder on your back) will do.

Long periods of time
mean that your respirator must supply large amounts of clean air for extended periods. This means that if you use breathing apparatus, an effective cylinder-swapping system has to be in place. The short operational life of an air cylinder can present big problems, for instance, if you are required to climb the fire stair of a high-rise building.
A fan-supplied positive-pressure filter respirator may be the solution, as its operational duration depends only on the battery, which may last for several hours, even at hard work.

Rescue work conducted at Taipei airport, using SE-shield equipment from S.E.A.

Pressurised DP suit

Pressurised,
encapsulated
PVC suit

VPS material

HPS material