Speed is as important as a hose for the fire service. Yet, in the respiratory protective equipment workshop, cleaning the used kit can be a lengthy process. This is especially the case when kit is cleaned by hand and dwell times must be obeyed or if a machine is used but it has to run for hours and the components of the PPE, such as regulators, still have to be cleaned by hand. This happens when the machine simply has no provision for such a complex item of respiratory protective equipment.
Knut Grossmann is respiratory protective equipment technician at Halle (Saale) professional fire service. He now spends a lot less time on maintenance when he cleans the 574 masks used by his colleagues. ‘Finally being able to work more quickly was one of the main motivating factors in our purchasing a MEIKO TopClean M cleaning and disinfection machine for respiratory protective equipment. The versatility of the machine was also part of it, though. Now we can clean BA masks and regulators in a machine,’ says Mr Grossmann. His colleague, Robert Schwarzkopf, keenly backs him up. He is Group Head of Technology at Halle (Saale) fire service and heard about MEIKO developing the new cleaning and disinfection machine for respiratory protective equipment from a colleague. Then he saw it firsthand at the ‘Florian’ trade show and was sold.
‘We have been using it to clean out respiratory protective equipment since 2018 and we are very happy with it. Previously, masks, regulators and frames had to be cleaned by hand but that is just not necessary anymore. This way, we save time and the results are impressive.’
Instead of disassembling the equipment, the respiratory protective equipment technician at Halle (Saale) fire station simply has to grab some blind plugs, seal the SCBA harnesses and cleaning can begin. MEIKO's technological solution also fits in with the raised awareness of assignment hygiene at Halle (Saale) fire service, ‘We even ordered a wheeled container for respiratory protective equipment that we use to collect contaminated SCBA, BA masks and PPE at the site of the assignment. We then maintain that separation of clean and dirty here in our respiratory protective equipment workshop,’ explains Robert Schwarzkopf, going on to say, ‘firefighters are becoming more aware of the health risks they face, thank God.’
