Setting up an emergency response team, and keeping its equipment working
Setting up a response team and keeping its cabinet working, from fire helmets to the breathing apparatus on the test bench.
Buying the equipment for a response team is the easy half.
The hard half is that the equipment spends almost all of its life in a cabinet, and a set that has sat in a cabinet for eleven months is only useful if somebody has been maintaining it. This page covers both halves: what a team needs to be set up, and what has to happen through the year so it still works on the day.
For the range itself, with what each item is and what TopBorneo carries, go to emergency response equipment.
A response team, set up and kept ready
Why work with TopBorneo
Tell us the job, the site and the crew. We work out what fits instead of sending a catalogue back.
MSA, KStrong and Bullard straight from an official distributor, with lighter lines alongside them.
Gas detectors, breathing apparatus and cylinders are serviced by our own technicians.
The same people handle your enquiry, your order and your servicing.
Read more
Open a section to read the detail behind it.
What the team is set up with
| What it is for | What the team carries | Where the detail is |
|---|---|---|
| Going near heat | Fire helmets, firefighter protective clothing | emergency response equipment |
| Seeing through smoke | Thermal imaging camera | emergency response equipment |
| Breathing air | Self-contained breathing apparatus, spare cylinders, escape sets | respiratory protection |
| Knowing what the air is | Portable multi-gas detector | gas detection |
| Getting a person out | Tripod, winch, harnesses with rescue points, rescue lines | confined space equipment |
| Working at height during a rescue | Harnesses, lanyards, anchorage | fall protection |
One supplier quotes every line in that table, so the team goes on one purchase order instead of a separate order per group.
Size the team before you size the order
The most common thing that goes wrong in a first order is buying a front line set for everybody. A plant team usually has two levels in it: a small number of people who go in, and a larger number who hold the line, run the gas testing and manage the opening. The first group needs the full set. The second group needs the detector, the escape set and the protective clothing, and not the breathing apparatus and the camera.
Say how many people are in each group when you send the list, and the quotation comes back split the same way. It is usually the difference between one set of numbers and a very different one.
What has to happen through the year
This is the part that decides whether the cabinet is worth anything.
| Item | What it needs | Where the detail is |
|---|---|---|
| Portable gas detector | Bump test before each day's use, calibration at a maximum of six months | portable gas detector calibration |
| Breathing apparatus | Servicing, with the set, the mask and the demand valve measured on a test bench | breathing apparatus servicing |
| Cylinders | Hydrostatic testing on the cylinder's own schedule | cylinder hydrostatic testing |
| Harnesses and rescue lines | Inspection with a written outcome per item | fall protection inspection |
| Thermal imaging camera | The battery, the charger and the spare cells, which differ per model | emergency response equipment |
MSA recommends a bump test on a gas detector before each day's use and calibration at a maximum interval of six months. The other intervals follow the maker's schedule for the item, which is why the make, the model and the serial number are the first thing to send.
The three things that go missing first
Spare cylinders, detector sensors and camera batteries. None of them fails loudly. A cylinder comes back from a job empty and goes into the cabinet empty, a sensor drifts past its life while the unit still switches on, and a camera battery that has sat on a shelf for a year will not hold a charge through an incident.
Send the models once and they can be quoted together with the servicing, so the consumables and the service work arrive on the same quotation rather than being remembered separately.
After an incident
A set that has been used is not the same as a set that has been checked. The cylinders need refilling, the breathing apparatus goes back on a test bench, the protective clothing is looked at for heat damage, and the detector gets a bump test before it goes back in the cabinet. Send the list of what went out and it can be quoted as one job.
There is a level for every budget
MSA, KStrong and Bullard are the official lines, and TopBorneo carries lighter and cheaper lines next to them. A standby team at a small plant does not need what a front line crew at a terminal needs. Say what the team does and the quotation comes back with the levels next to each other, instead of one number that is either too much or not enough.
Common questions
What does a plant emergency response team need to get started?
Head protection and protective clothing for everyone, breathing apparatus and a thermal imaging camera for the people who go in, a portable gas detector, escape sets, and rescue equipment for getting a person out. Split the list by who goes in and who holds the line, because the two groups need different sets.
How often does emergency response equipment need servicing?
The gas detector follows a bump test before each day's use and calibration at a maximum interval of six months, which is what MSA recommends. Breathing apparatus, cylinders and harnesses follow the schedule of the maker and the item. Send the make, the model and the serial number and TopBorneo comes back with what each one needs.
Can a response set be rented instead of bought?
Part of it. Rental covers the same equipment TopBorneo supplies and services, and gas detectors and confined space entry sets go out by the job or by the month. Send the list and ask which items on it can be rented. See safety equipment rental.
Can TopBorneo service equipment it did not sell?
Yes. Send the make, the model and the serial number, whatever the brand, and the answer comes back with what the item needs.
Send the team, not just the list
Email crm@topborneo.com with how many people are in the team, what the site is and what they already have, or send it to the Labuan or Kota Kinabalu WhatsApp number. A photograph of the inside of the cabinet is the fastest way to get a quotation that covers both the gaps and the servicing.