Page 16 - Occupational Health & Safety, May 2019

RESPIRATORY PROTECTION
need for fit testing because their masks are under positive pressure. The fact is that if there is even a small leak in the facepiece, because the mask is under positive pres- sure, the bottle will make up the difference. In simpler terms, if there is not a good fit, the firefighter will run out of air sooner than expected because the mask is going to require more air to “fix the leak.” To fix the leak, the air bottle must dump more air into the facepiece to maintain the positive pressure, which will result in less air for the firefighter. Running out of air in an active fire could be a death sentence for our local heroes. Annual fit testing matters and is es- sential for all first responders.
There are different fit testers on the market. The best technology that I have found is CNP technology. This method uses controlled negative pressure to quan- tify the size of the leak (if any) in the mask. Using air pressure as the challenge agent in fit testing gives the most accurate results, and there are published scientific studies to prove it. Other quantitative methods may provide the user with a false positive
or a PASS on the fit test. The last thing a
first responder needs is a false pass on their
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