subject: Reflective Tapes For Bunker Gear [print this page] Reflective tape isnt the only important feature when it comes to turnout gear for firefighters. While reflective tape is very important for visibility reasons, its only a small contributing piece of the overall gear. The gear, known as turnout gear due to where it is stored, is kept in a ready-to-wear position so firefighters can don the gear without issues. To make it as easy as possible, the pants of the gear are rolled down over the boots and the suspenders stay attached. This allows the firefighter to simply jump into his boots, pull up the pants, and be ready to go.
This is a necessary step. To improve response time of calls, fire crews are expected to be able to full dress down in their turnout gear in under 60 seconds. This can be a challenge considering everything they have to wear. All that gear, with the added insulation and reflective accessories, can be uncomfortable to wear but it protects the firefighter from extreme temperatures. The fail point of turnout gear is approximately 1200 degrees Fahrenheit.
All of the gear is usually stored in the engine or apparatus bay of the fire department hall. The gear must be stored together, with pieces including the coat, boots, hood, helmet, gloves, eye protection, pants, and SCBA system. The gear cannot be kept at home or in any living spaces due to its potential of having harmful substances like carcinogens and toxins on it, even after a thorough cleansing. Although the exposure to the harmful agents would be minimal due to cleaning, any extended exposure to carcinogens and toxins can be unsafe.
To offer the right kind of protection, turnout gear has to have fire retardant properties as well as reflective properties. The coat and pants are both insulated and reinforced, developed from fire resistant fabric known as PBI or Nomex. In addition to the flam resistant design, turnout gear has reflective trim and tape that reflects the light back to its source. This makes it easy to spot other crew members. The jacket typically has the company, station and/or ladder number printed on the back of the jacket along with the name of the firefighter, similar to a sport jersey
The reflective tape isnt isolated to one area: its used on almost every part of the turnout gear, including the helmet. The helmet also has another important identifying feature: the colors. The helmets are usually color coded to help with visibility and sometimes to signify the rank and role of the crew member. Departments are known to use yellow or blue to signify a paramedic firefighter, black for a volunteer firefighter, red for the captain of the crew, and white for the district chief or battalion chief.
Not only is does the helmet have important qualities but the boots also have and important feature. Heavy smoke can seriously reduce visibility and quickly fills rooms. The reflective tape or trim used on the boots is extremely important as it allows firefighters to see each other in these low visibility areas. The pants also sport the same tape and trim, but it usually wraps around the cuffs of the pants making multiple circles.
