Monroe, NC (August 25, 2011) – Scott Safety, a global leader in innovative personal protective equipment, is pleased to announce a new advancement in fire service technology with the introduction of 5500 (5.5) psi cylinders.
The 5.5 cylinders maintain SCBA form, familiar to users, but with up to an 11 percent reduction in profile and up to 15 percent reduction in weight to reduce user fatigue. Another benefit is the ease of department integration without costly infrastructure changes.
“Scott Safety listened to the fire service's need to reduce the weight of the complete SCBA. Scott's new 5.5 cylinders take a concrete step towards addressing this need by allowing cylinder sizes and weights to be dramatically reduced without any other supporting infrastructure changes required,” says John Dinning, Scott’s Product Line Manager for the North American Fire Service. “In addition, Scott is introducing a new 75-minute cylinder that will be essentially the same size as a current 4500 60-minute cylinder. This extended duration cylinder will be ideal for HAZMAT and RIT applications."
The 5.5 cylinders are available in 30-minute, 45-minute, 60-minute and 75-minute durations. To facilitate integration of the cylinders into the fire service and reduce infrastructure costs to fire departments, Scott Safety worked with leading manufacturers to ensure these products work with existing truck seats and brackets already in the market.
In developing this new technology, Scott Safety has partnered with Luxfer, the world’s leading manufacturer of breathing air cylinders. All cylinders have full Department of Transportation (DOT) and Transport Canada (TC) approvals and, as with the entire Air-Pak SCBA, meet the stringent requirements to be called Made in the USA.
In regards to 5.5 cylinder filling, a standard 6000 psi compressor will be able to charge a 5500 cylinder. The Scott Safety RevolveAir Charge Station has been tested and approved to be used for the higher pressure cylinders.
These cylinders will be compatible with Air-Pak 75 and Air-Pak NxG7 SCBA and will be available for shipment in January 2012 with full NIOSH and NFPA approvals.
For more information on the 5.5 cylinders, please visit www.scottsafety.com.
