Cylinder Inventory

By 2nd Lt. George L. Males, ET241

Back in January each fire company was requested to provide an inventory of the bottles they had on board their apparatus. Within a few weeks the information was obtained and an over all inventory was developed for several purposes:

• Develop a “retirement” list for bottles hitting their 15^th anniversary. DOT [now] requires these bottles be retired from service.

• Give the Executive Board back up information for future purchases.

• Give the department instant awareness of any “safety alerts” or recall issues. All bottles have been logged in by DOT number as well as Serial Number and manufacturer.

• Assigned a department 3 digit number to each bottle for ease of recognition. Each bottle now bears a RED number on the label of the bottle. The only exceptions are the 3 remaining 2.2 aluminum bottles on R141. These bottles have their numbers on the dome.

• The new 3 digit code can be used on inspections and inventory checks for hydro tests, etc. Less writing!!

The result of this inventory has initially reviled 6 4.5 bottles missing. Any missing bottles will not have the red 3 digit code. They are to be returned to the SCBA shop for inventory and labeling. Don’t try to add any number, the inventory is already pre-assigned.

Special Handling

This is a reminder to handle your air-paks with care. When doffing your packs, please either return them to the apparatus in which they came or make sure they are not placed in the snow, on dirt, mud or on wet ground. Keep the SCBA’s clean, Lord knows the junk they are subjected to while at an emergency scene. All to often debris gets stuck in places you can’t see and possibly this could hamper it’s operation.

Lastly, with our new Carbon Fiber bottles, please take care not to drag these bottles over rough surfaces. The plastic like finish can be worn off and damage can be done to the actual carbon fibers, once the damage is done to these bottles, they can not be repaired. So please use SCBA equipment with care. It protects one very important person….YOU. Be Safe.