Why do firefighters use SCBA instead of rebreathers?

I'm a volunteer fire fighter, and curious why Fire Departments are not equipped with rebreathers, but rather SCBAs which have a shorter operating time due to the fact that the oxygen exhaled is not recirculated back into the system. I would be grateful if anyone can satisfy my curiousity!

2012-12-05T16:41:11Z

I suppose your answer is good enough in that long operating times are 'not needed'. My department uses BAs with 30-minute air tanks, and we cycle out attack teams to prevent too much fatigue caused by dehydration, heat stroke, etc. Still, running out of air is a possibility when a fireman gets trapped in a structure or does not properly gauge how much operating time his tank has then <50% air supply remaining, with no escape routes can cause panic. There also 45-minute BA's but our department never uses them because of the added weight. If rebreathers also had additional weight, additional bulk or impelled a fireman to push himself too long that it might cause him to go down then I can see how it might not be such a good idea.

?2012-12-04T21:54:25Z

Favorite Answer

This is simply a guess on my part, so you may have to do a bit more research on your part. However, I can think of a few reasons you might chose those over a re-breather. First off, SCBA uses compressed air. So one, you're not carrying oxygen into a fire (explosive) and two, you can simply refill the SCBA with a compressor, so I would think that fire fighters could quickly switch out and refill their SCBA if need be.

Along side of this, I believe that the SCBA made for fire fighters are usually much lighter than those used for re-breathers. Add to this the fact that they usually have a positive pressure inside the mask, which would prevent the gasses created from the fire from entering your mask and hence affecting you, and I would think you'd start creating a compelling argument for using a SCBA.

I also have no idea how long a fire fighter spends inside a burning building, but on average, I'd be willing to bet most people would get between 25-35 minutes of work time out of a SCBA. So if the time you use it is statistically less than that, then the advantages of the SCBA would be much greater.

Again, that's just a guess on my part, but it makes sense in my head.

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?2016-12-13T22:47:34Z

have been given a lotta friends who're regulation enforcement officers, and thats the main applicable profession IMO. Firefighters are respected yet seem on the artwork: They artwork 24 hour shifts (like Paramedics) and the pay isn't all that super. As a cop there is extra beneficial section for progression, like as an investigator or to SWAT. countless recommendations indoors the regulation enforcement field.

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?2016-09-17T04:23:03Z

I would like to find out more about this too

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