- The UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS FIRE SERVICE INSTITUTE (IFSI) has established a special fund that will provide unrestricted funding for developing specialized courses and additional hands-on training facilities. The fund will also help support regional training center expansion, new research initiatives, and new training prop development.
- The Mast Division of THE WILL-BURT COMPANY, manufacturer and global distributor of mechanical, pneumatic, and manual telescoping masts and Night Scan™ light towers for international markets, received the 2004 Ohio Exporter of Year Award from Governor Bob Taft. The award is given an Ohio company for its efforts to expand the market for Ohio goods abroad.
- METZ AERIALS USA has a new address and contact information: 584 East Cypress Street, Kennett Square, PA 19348. Tel.: (800) 508-5899. Fax: (610) 444-6724. E-mail: [email protected]. Web site: www.metz-apparatus.com/.
- SUPERIOR SIGNAL COMPANY, INC. celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. The Old Bridge, New Jersey, company manufactures smoke generating devices and ultrasonic test instrumentation. In the early 1950s, it was originally contracted by government agencies to manufacture military and ship distress signal devices, which usually used colored smoke and not suitable for civilian purposes. In 1954, the company developed a safe nonstaining smoke for civilian applications that contained no explosive materials. Superior’s smoke generators are now used for applications including fire service training; leak-testing ductwork, furnaces, tanks, and piping; and more.
- RELM WIRELESS CORPORATION and IPMOBILENET have signed a teaming agreement to serve as primary or secondary contractor in bringing integrated capabilities and mobile radio products to fire service, EMS, homeland security, and other government and industrial users. RELM offers its BK radio products, including DPH digitial portables that meet APCO Project 25 technical standards for new public service digital radios. IPMobileNet offers the IP Series products, which combine wireless mobile voice and data communications with the Internet.
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RELM Wireless’s new digital BK Radio DPH5102X portable radios will be field-tested by the Fort Collins, Colorado-based Roosevelt Hotshots frontline forest firefighters. At the end of the current fire season, representatives of the Roosevelt Hotshots and RELM will meet to discuss the radio’s performance, user expectations, requirements, and recommendations. The DPH has earned fire certification from the National Interagency Fire Center.
- ROYAL PHILIPS ELECTRONICS and the NATIONAL VOLUNTEER FIRE COUNCIL (NVFC) announced an exclusive joint marketing agreement to raise awareness of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) among volunteer firefighters and the communities in which they work, increase support for local NVFC members, and assist volunteer fire departments in acquiring automated external defibrillators (AEDs) necessary for treating SCA.
- Philips, the manufacturer of HeartStart defibrillators, and the NVFC will provide volunteer fire departments and individual firefighters with discounted NVFC memberships as well as savings on resuscitation supplies and training materials. The NVFC and Philips will jointly provide learning opportunities to increase awareness of SCA and defibrillation and encourage the development and growth of community public access defibrillation (PAD) programs to further enhance the emergency response system. Community PAD programs prepare residents, workers, and visitors to respond in the instance of SCA by placing defibrillators in public places and training city and town employees and citizens to use them. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), less than 20 percent of all fire vehicles currently carry defibrillators.
