800-736-2388
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New London, PA, August 3, 2015:
Personal Protection Equipment Specialists (PPES) has announced that the Guardian® Safety and Survival Training System Simulator has arrived at the Urban Search and Rescue Logistics Center in Jakarta, capital of the Republic of Indonesia.
Purchased by Indonesia’s National Board of Disaster Management (BNPB), analogous to the USA’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Guardian will be used to provide ongoing confined-space training by recreating hundreds of disaster scenarios that first responders are likely to encounter.
To explain the workings of the unit as well as demonstrate the training processes and capabilities it provides, PPES sent their team of OSHA-certified trainers to conduct a weeklong orientation on how to fully utilize the state-of-the-art simulator. All Indonesian USAR (Urban Search and Rescue) Instructors were present at the orientation. According to Mr. Tom Quinn, the developer of the Guardian and President of PPES, “We are overjoyed with the reception we have received from the Indonesian training officials. Plans are already being finalized for our team to return this spring.”
Indonesia’s location at the confluence of three major tectonic plates makes it prone to earthquakes, something that this specially modified Indonesian unit has been equipped to replicate the sudden aftershocks that often follow a powerful earthquake.
Designed and assembled in the company’s new manufacturing facility in Atglen, PA, the unit can safely train first responders by simulating a collapsed building where the third floor has collapsed onto of the second floor and the second floor has pancaked onto the ground floor. Hindered by zero visibility, smoke and debris, encumbered by pounds of protective gear and bulky breathing apparatus, the rescuers will find themselves bringing all their training into play in an environment that has been credited as being “as real as it gets.” Such hands-on experience allows first responders to perfect such necessary techniques as cutting through rebar, stabilizing collapsed environments, cribbing, jacking, breaching, shoring up flooring and extricating victims – all in total darkness. A thoroughly redesigned command center allows for continuous monitoring and recording of the training, thanks to a bank of video cameras inside and out with infrared cameras able to function in total darkness of the interior.
Other advancements include an expanded audio effects system that fills the training simulator not only with the internal sounds rescuers would hear within a collapsed building, but also outside distractions that are common at a disaster; specially designed LED escape lighting; and additional escape and entry doors; among other improvements. BNPB also elected to include the sewer-line rescue package, window repelling/rescue kit and leaking gas-line simulator.
Prior to its departure for Indonesia, U.S. Senator Patrick Toomey of Pennsylvania issued a statement: “I congratulate PPES on their innovative Guardian Safety and Survival Training System Simulator that is helping to make it easier to train first responders. It is great to see a Chester County, PA, manufacturer leading this charge.”
Founded in 1996, PPES specializes in meeting the needs of the first-responder industry. In addition to the GUARDIAN Safety and Survival Training System Simulator, PPES provides Rescue and EMS training and certification.
