Project Deliverable 1

The Analysis First Responders’ PPE

Kunal Aneja, Rachel Chan, and Tejaswini Ramkumar Babu

Overview
We will be researching the implications of having a heads-up display on the helmets of first
responders for navigational use. This will be a quick, hands-free way to notify them of the
location of other first responders and other key information based on the situation.

From our interviews with firefighters, an EMT, and OSHA professionals, we have found that the
navigation systems currently used by first responders, such as the MDT, are slow to start up.
Furthermore, navigating buildings themselves is difficult, because the first responders need to get
instructions from one of the officials in charge of the building or from their leader/chief.

To mitigate the inconvenience of current navigation technologies, we plan to use a heads-up

display that will show arrows through the visor that will indicate where to go. Furthermore, it
will utilize thermal imaging to detect the presence of heat from fires or human bodies.

Methodology
EMT
Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) are at the scene of any incidents in order to take care of
people who are injured. They not only care for patients on the scene, but they also transport
patients to the hospital if the injuries are more severe. EMTs are almost always there on the scene
with firefighters. Some of the EMTs actually are firefighters as well. As our project goal is to
make the job of firefighters easier and safer, an interview with an EMT will help us analyze the
relationship between these two jobs and how they relate in a scene of emergency.

The questions asked during the interview consisted of what training did they do before becoming
a certified EMT, what was the process like, what a day in their life was like, what they found
hardest/easiest about their job, how they transport patients, how many people are in one car, how
do they know where to travel to, what technology do they use in order to get to the scene as fast
as they can, are there any faults to using this type of technology, what sort of PPE do they use,
and what is the protocol for when they get notified that their help is needed right away.

Firefighters
Firefighters do more than just combating fires. As direct as the name sounds, firefighters are
trained not just to extinguish fires but to manage car accidents, solve gas leaks, mitigate chemical
spills, rescue people/animals, and educate the citizens of the world on fire safety. In order to
execute these situations, firefighters have to go through training in order to gain their state
certification as firefighters.

In order to gain more in depth knowledge of what firefighters do on their job, some of the
interview questions we asked were how long is your job/shift, what is life like when there is and
isn’t an incident, what is the hardest/easiest part of your job, what is the procedure after you get a
dispatch call that they need you on the job, what type of PPE do you use, what ways do you stay
connected with the crew in a fire, what notifications (if you have any) do you receive on your
PPE, do you find any of the PPE hard to use, is there any technology that has helped you during
your job, what are the different scenarios you have faced, how do you get information of the
building ahead of time, what type of technology do you use as a gps to the site of the incident,
are there certain materials or technology that can not be used within your job.

OSHA Representative
Occupational Self and Health Administration (OSHA) was created by Congress to ensure that
workers have safe working conditions by creating a set of rules/standards. From these standards,
OSHA representatives have inspectors that help enforce these standards by providing training,
education, assistance, and feedback to the businesses and departments. OSHA works closely
with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) in order to provide the best fire safety
rules and regulations for firefighters themselves. Whether it’s deciding what materials can or can
not be worn as a firefighter or what are the regulations needed in the fire department, OSHA is
there to ensure the safety of the workers, in our case fire fighters, are being protected so that they
can protect the citizens in our world.

In order to gain more in depth knowledge of what OSHA representatives do in their job, some of
the questions we asked were how long have you been a part of OSHA, how does OSHA apply to
firefighters, what makes PPE suitable for OSHA, what materials are restricted for firefighters to
have on PPE, how has OSHA and NFPA worked together to make fire safety rules and
regulations, how do you come up with these national standards, how do you inspect to see if the
PPE meets regulation standards.

Constraints
We are working with a variety of constraints which range from time available to feasibility with
testing and deployment. We are a small group of three students working with other preexisting
requirements with a limited amount of time available to work and build on this project.
Furthermore, as the equipment we are building is used in structural and proximity firefighting, it
must follow NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) 1851 codes, which require
high-intensity testing which is extremely expensive and restrictive, hence unavailable to us. As
the device must work with all firefighter stations in a given area, it must be cost-efficient for a
large deployment of devices. Additionally, it must not hinder current actions required by
firefighters in a variety of scenarios. Finally, since it is mounted on top of a firefighter, the
firefighter must be trained in order to use the device and follow OSHA guidelines with using the
item. For the development of the device, we will use low-fidelity prototyping of the navigation
system, along with a small group of simulation testing to work around these restraints.
User Characteristics
Since there are many different applications in this scenario, there are many people who are using,
testing, verifying, and applying the product. The three different users described using the
augmented SCBA (gas mask/helmet) are emergency medical technicians (EMT), firefighters,
and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) directors.

User Characteristics - EMT

EMT: Michael is 18 years old, and he has been an EMT for a little more than a year. Michael
selects what days he works in advance, shows up to that shift, and performs his duties. Michael
does day shifts, from 6:00 AM to 6:00PM. It’s required that he has the proper uniform and PPE,
his badge, his equipment, and he gets checked in at 5:30PM. The current navigation technologies
Michael uses do not work well or are cumbersome. For example, the MDT, or the Mobile Data
Terminals, take a few minutes to start up, and in emergencies, those few minutes are critical.
Currently, Michael uses his phone for navigation, but he would like to have better technology to
not only navigate the roads but also navigate large buildings.

User Characteristics - Firefighters

Firefighter Barbie has been a firefighter for over seven years, five of which have been in the
Atlanta Fire Rescue Station 15. She runs a one-on-two-off schedule where she is on shift for 24
hours and then off shift for 48 hours. During all times on shift she is wearing primary uniform
attire which is a regular cotton t-shirt with department logo, polyester long pants, and waterproof
black boots. During her shift, she must be prepared whenever a call comes, 80% of which are
medical and 20% are fire. If it is a fire call, she changes into bunker gear, or turnout gear. This
includes fire resistant, heat shielding gear with thick Haz-Mat boots. Whenever she is not on call
she works within the station which includes maintaining the trucks and keeping the station clean.
The call comes through an intercom system through the building and within the next two minutes
the firefighter must get ready and in transit to the designated location. In major structural fire
events different handheld equipment is currently used to measure where people are located in a
low-visibility building. The fire chief receives information from contractors and the city about
the layout of the building to determine the game plan and recovery situation (if there are
survivors). Each firefighter is connected to the radio where the fire chief is directing everyone
around the building and most of their attention is gone towards taking in visual feedback from
their environment and processing audio information through the radio. When searching through a
building, each firefighter follows a specific pathway mapping the area in order to most efficiently
clear out the building. When any firefighter finds a survivor the details are relayed back to the
firechief through the radio. There are many different equipment used when dealing with
firefighter situations of which include a TIC (Thermal Imaging Camera) which displays heat and
cold spots within a fire hence displaying key location data about other survivors and firefighters.
Like this device other devices are hand-held and must be directed towards the designated area in
order to receive useful data back.

Jermell is a firefighter, but he does not just fight fires. He speaks to students at school about
enhancing fire safety, checks water hydrants, and provides emergency medical services. During
his down time at the station (times that he is on shift but there is no call come in), he does lots of
high end training to maintain his skills as it is a life-or-death matter. In Jermell's opinion the
hardest part of being a firefighter is being very hot (103-108 F)in his burnout gear especially
when the environment is unbearable.

User Characteristics - OSHA

OSHA Director: John Plummer is an OSHA director and has been part of the agency for 22
years. Plummer works five days a week starting from 6:30am and finishing the day around 7 pm.
Although Plummer does serve as a representative and inspector for OSHA, he also has been part
of the NFPA which indicates that he has knowledge within the fire department, Plummer is very
familiar with the PPE for firefighters. He has checked the material of the PPE as well as
inspected the usage and vitality of the PPE. He also works closely with the fire department as he
inspects to see if the fire departments within the District of Columbia are safe to stay in and there
is nothing that will harm the workers in any way. Although Plummer does not test the PPE
himself, he is aware of the testing that is required. PPE is tested through Biological Resistance
Testing and chemical resistance testing. BRT includes penetration testing, as well as
antimicrobial and antibacterial testing. CRT includes chemical penetration and permeation
testing. These tests Plummer says belong to the Safety Equipment Institute and Underwriters'
Laboratories. After testing the PPE equipment, they will communicate with OSHA as well as
analyze what standard was broken and the cause of it. All personal protective equipment must be
designed and built safely, and it must be kept in a hygienic and dependable manner. It should be
snug enough to encourage worker use. Fit issues with personal protective equipment might mean
the difference between being safely covered and being dangerously exposed. Plummer makes
sure that employers are given the right personal protective equipment and makes sure that is
being used in situations where it deems to be helpful

EMT Firefighters OSHA directors

Age 24-40 18-29 30-50

Head Radius Average Minimum Average

Variance

Eyesight Excellent Excellent Average

 Technology None to Much Moderate to Much Little to Moderate
Experience

Task Analysis
There are a variety of different assignments firefighters have, of which include survivor
extraction during a major fire situation. This process includes the preparation of equipment,
wearing PPE, transportation to the location, determining the game plan, entering the building in
the methodical manner, running a quick priority one search based on known layouts of building
in the area, and then a later priority two search with a more detailed search for any known
survivors. If a firefighter were to find a survivor, the survivor becomes a patient and the
firefighter must run an EMT analysis on the patient which includes checking for injuries and
life-threatening conditions other than the fire. Furthermore when a firefighter finds a survivor an
analysis on survivability must be done which includes the chance to extract the survivor alive
without injuring themselves and “the challenge is that empathy and compassion are inherent to
caregivers.”
Current UI Critique
Current navigation systems are unsatisfactory, slow, and cumbersome. For example, emergency
vehicles use the MDT, or the Mobile Data Terminal. The MDT is a computer in front of the
ambulance that acts as a GPS while driving and displays call notes. However, the MDT takes a
few minutes to start up, so it’s inefficient to use and wastes valuable time. Furthermore, the
interface is not as specific and haptic as the touch screen of a current smartphone. TIC (thermal
imaging cameras) is a firefighter used hand held heat season detector which signals where people
are located in an environment. It’s used to monitor the fire's spread, so one can quickly visualize
your plan of attack, locate hot spots, and save lives. Currently, the firefighters have to switch
settings or obtain a TIC by holding it in their hand. They don’t have their hands free, which is
restricting when they are trying to save people. Furthermore, they have to buy a TIC with their
own money. The current helmets used by firefighters restrict vision. They block out peripheral
views, though they protect those areas of the face. Furthermore, glass visors that do show
peripheral vision may fog up, still restricting the user’s vision.

Usage scenarios
Heart Attack Scenario

The EMT gets information and call notes from the dispatcher about a nursing home resident who
had a heart attack. While trying to start up the MDT, the device starts loading. The MDT is
inefficient and slow, leading the EMT to put and turn on their headgear and input the address. At
the scene, the EMT’s rush into the building, only to not know where to go. Instead of asking the
concierge for directions, they use the inputted room number and the arrows displayed in the
heads up display to get to the correct room. The EMT’s finally find the patient. With a
combination of current GPS technologies, community effort through providing building
blueprints, and spatial mapping, the exact door numbers of the residents can be obtained and an
overhead display with arrows allows for the EMT’s to reach the patient quicker.

Finding a Gas Leak Scenario

After firefighters get information from the dispatcher, they travel to the place where the natural
gas leak happened. They use a gas monitor to scan for gas, and they evacuate everyone who isn’t
a firefighter. The firefighters use TIC to find fires and heat sources, and the overhead display
would point out the exact locations of the people who need to be evacuated through the visor by
using their heat signatures as a way to locate them. Unlike typical TIC’s, the thermal images will
be shown through the overhead display, so the firefighters can have their hands free. They will
then ventilate the room to clear out the natural gas.

Usability Goals

Effective Faster response times and the first responders get to

the situation quicker. Goal: Decrease response times
by 50%

Learnable A measure of how quickly the first responders learn

to use it and get used to it. Goal: 40 minutes.

Inexpensive Make the product affordable while still following

OSHA and NFPA guidelines. Goal: $500

Convenient How often will they be using this PPE in a real life
scenario?

Protective Headgear should not block/fog vision while also

protecting the firefighter’s face.

Implications
After acquiring information from our stakeholders, we can combine our notes that we
developed to create a design that satisfies all parties. Interviewing an OSHA/NFPA
representative allows us to obtain in depth knowledge of the PPE firefighters use. We can utilize
this information and create our prototype that fits the regulations of fire safety. Interviewing a
firefighter gives us information of the other tasks firefighters perform and the step by step
scenario of how they manage different tasks. Knowing how firefighters feel with the PPE on as
well as knowing how they feel and what they do during the scene of the incident helps us
understand what really goes on beyond our general consensus. Our group of three can figure out
from the interview their faults and their pros by assessing what they wish could be better or what
should remain the same. If there is a general problem found by firefighters, it is safe to say that
the problem should be analyzed and looked upon within the group. As for EMTs, their user
profiles will allow us to understand the transportation aspect on the scene of an incident. From
their interview, we understand that their MDT system lacks a fast startup, which hinders the time
that could be spent going to the scene. Despite MDT working as the GPS voice system, MDTs
end up using their phones to pull up maps because it is much quicker, which in turn, destroys the
purpose of MDT.

When collecting data from Jermell Williams, a local Georgia firefighter, it was brought to
our attention that Georgia as well as other states do not supply TIC, a hand held thermal imaging
camera that picks up fires and heat sources within the area. Instead of using this type of
technology, Williams said their crew uses their gloves to feel the walls to see if it is hot or not.
The simple “feeling the wall with hand” can work but because the gloves are so thermal
insulative, feeling the heat might be hard to assume. Due to a lack of advanced tech spatial
mapping, like finding a fire, our group should consider other scenarios they might use spatial
mapping so we can create a design that can help them carry out their needs quicker.

Because the gloves are heat insulative, the gloves are also very thick, making it hard to
move your fingers like a person without a glove could. When receiving a call from the chief or
crew, it is quite hard to send a message back to them with their walkie talkie because they have
to press a button with their gloves. With many things going already during the scene of the
incident, trying to push a button is not something they want to focus on. From this data collected,
the gloves of firefighters are a potential problem our group should analyze when creating our
design.

Work breakdown

Name Overview Methodolo Constraint User Task Current UI Usage Usability Implicatio
gy s Characteri Analysis Critique Scenarios Goals ns
stics

Rachel X X X X

Kunal X X X

Teja X X X X X
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