Cyanide monitoring

[raricciuti]

With the renewed awareness of the hazards, we started using both a CO meter and an HCN meter prior to giving the OK to drop SCBA.

Anyone else checking for HCN at their structure fires? If yes, what have you found?

We've only had one fire since placing the meters in service - no HCN found post knockdown.

[KAPNKRNCH]

We bought a meter to do the same thing, only problem is the meter is always broken, I guess we should have went with the Industrial Scientific, but I thought I researched the brand we bought well enough, oh well they say they will fix it again for free.

[raricciuti]

We've had problems with some of our Industrial Scientific meters. The $$$ of repairs to them is outrageous! Our two HCN meters are made by BW Technologies (model is the Gas Alert Extreme). They were about 1/2 the cost of an equivalent I.S. meter. Don't know about durability / life expectancy - they're too new.

[PuffyNPFD]

My dept isn't but Providence (next city) is. They had a rash of cyanide exposures back in Feb 06' including one near LODD where the brother actually coded while operating the pump. He had been at a fire earlier in the night where he was 3rd due so he was doing interior work at that one. Somewhere around 30 members of PFD tested + for elevated levels of cyanide from 3 fires in an 8 hr period. They now test for it at all working fires. (around 5-600 a year.)

[KAPNKRNCH]

Gas Alert Extreme is the meter that we are currently having issues with, the first time they replaced the circuit board, they say that it sounds like they will do the same thing to it again.

[ftfdverbenec770]

we are starting to check for this on calls. we also have started doing this within the past few months. since we have just started checking, we dont really have an efficent way to check it thought. we are just using drager tubes in a few select areas until something better is found.