Archive for November, 2007

New Products: BrytteDay

Friday, November 16th, 2007

Every scene is not always curb side. Lighting that is no longer tethered to the vehicle. Just grab it and go where-ever and when-ever you need it. The high intensity OPTIMUM style lamphead is available with a 70 or 150 watt HID (High Intensity Discharge) bulb.
The Tripod is available in three different sizes to fit your needs.

Power Pack
The Power Pack rechargeable battery is housed in a rugged case with a built-in charger. ON/OFF switch, charge level, operating LED indicators, and easy to follow directions located on top of the battery/charger unit.

Download the BrytteDay Literature Sheet [PDF]

Air pollution is not a new problem

Wednesday, November 7th, 2007

Air pollution is not a new problem for many large cities. At the turn of the nineteenth century over 100,000 horses lived in New York city at any given time. The normal city horse produced about twenty-five pounds of manure a day. The manure was everywhere, along the roadway, heaped in piles, or dried and blown about by the wind. The horse was creating the very same problems that today are attributed to the automobile: air contaminants harmful to health, noxious odors, and noise.

What was Aerofoam?

Monday, November 5th, 2007

In the 1940s, Percy Julian developed an improved type of foam called Aerofoam. By using mechanical action, a liquid protein-based concentrate, made from natural animal protein, was mixed with water in either a proportioning system or an aerating nozzle to form air bubbles with a free flowing action. Its expansion ratio and its ease of handling made it very popular.

Unbelievable! Or is it?

Monday, November 5th, 2007

By Robert Tutterow
Health & Safety Officer
Charlotte Fire Department

Through May of this year, unofficially, this country has lost 43 firefighters in the line of duty. 16 of these firefighters lost their lives responding to calls while 8 lost their lives at the scene of an incident (excluding medical LODD’s). Heart attacks and strokes aside, more than twice as many firefighters have lost their live responding to incidents than actually working at the incidents! That’s UNBELIEVABLE–OR IS IT? It’s certainly absurd and totally unacceptable. To the general public, that statistic would probably be very surprising because they think we get killed bringing people out of burning structures. At least that’s what we tell them.
(more…)

LED’s in Emergency Vehicle Lighting

Monday, November 5th, 2007

In 1907, Henry Joseph Round observed that when you ran an electrical current through silicon carbide, it emitted a weak, yellow light1. This was the first documented case of electroluminescence by which a small electric current passing through a material was converted directly into visible light. Building upon the foundation Round discovered, in the 1960’s, scientists created the first modern light emitting diodes (LED’s). Initially, LED’s were restricted to indicators for the electronics and display industries. However, by the 1990’s, the technology had advanced sufficiently that the light output started to equal more traditional lighting sources. In the past 5 years, the use of LED’s on fire trucks has exploded. They have become extremely common as truck clearance lights, turn signal lights, brake lights, warning lights, and even backup or compartment lights. In fact, it’s rare to find a truck that doesn’t have at least a few LED’s somewhere on the perimeter of the vehicle.
(more…)