10. Protective equipment
The ability to provide appropriate and advanced personal protective equipment
CAPABILITY GAP 10: “THE ABILITY TO PROVIDE APPROPRIATE AND ADVANCED PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT”
Responders would like protective garments that are appropriate for their calls for service. Ideally, the duty uniform should help protect responders against the most likely threats encountered, including fire, blood-borne pathogens, extreme weather and projectiles.
Mission-specific garments should provide varying levels of protection as needed, but with enhanced comfort and wearability. All garments should accommodate differences in gender and body size. When possible, components and garments should be integrated with other tools or equipment (e.g., sensors) to limit the weight strain of the PPE.
TARGET OBJECTIVES AND POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS
The target objectives for this gap are:
- Garments that protect responders against the most likely threats encountered (e.g., fire, blood-borne pathogens, extreme weather, projectiles)
- Garments that increase the comfort, breathability, and durability of PPE
- Respiratory protection that is light-weight, longer-duration, and low-profile
Potential solutions should:
- help protect responders against the most likely threats encountered
- provide advanced protection for hazardous tasks
- offer appropriate levels of protection for an array of missions
- integrate other response system components
- be easy to launder and decontaminate throughout the service life
be designed to minimize price of system, consumables, training, and maintenance
CAPABILITY
The purpose of protective clothing and equipment is to shield responders from injury while operating in hazardous environments and provide the highest level of protection against a range of possible threats.
