Technical rescue personal protective equipment (PPE) was born out of necessity as the fire service evolved from responding to only fires to complex technical rescue incidents. Early on, firefighters would wear their structural firefighting PPE or coveralls while working on the scene of a collapse. Over time, the length and type of technical rescue operations proved that structural firefighting PPE, while durable, was not necessarily the best type of PPE for rescuers.

Consider the number and type of calls for your fire department. It may do well to consider purchasing technical rescue PPE for your fire and EMS crews to wear at extrication scenes, building collapses, and other incidents where strong, but not heavy, PPE is needed. Always wearing structural firefighting PPE in non-fire incidents increases the wear and tear on the material and continually exposes it to chemicals, requiring increased laundering and out-of-service time.

Ricochet’s USAR/Technical Rescue PPE is for most of the calls you will respond to and gives you more than minimum protection. The gear is dual certified to NFPA 1951 Level II and NFPA 1999 standards giving you abrasion and flame resistance and liquid and blood-borne pathogen protection through a Gore S/R/CROSSTECH moisture barrier. Ricochet’s dual certification is superior to most manufacturers. Other manufacturers state dual certification with NFPA 1951 and NFPA 1977 for wildland firefighting. That only gives you an outer shell and no liquid protection. Ricochet’s quality standard gives you protection for the majority of calls you respond to.

Ricochet’s tech rescue PPE line, the Out Front USAR/Technical Rescue coat and pants, and the Custom Technical Rescue/USAR coat and pants, are manufactured with either a NOMEX, Milliken, or Agility outer shell and available in Navy Blue, Tan, Black, or HiViz. Each has material reinforcements and pocket options available for your specific needs. This quality manufacturing with exacting standards and numerous options gives your department the easy ability to protect fire and EMS crews during the majority of calls they will respond to without sacrificing safety and minimizing wear and tear on other PPE.