PITTSBURGH - Dräger Safety, Inc. is pleased to announce the NIOSH CBRN approval of its NFPA 1981, 2002-Edition Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA). The NIOSH CBRN standard was instituted to protect our nation’s emergency responders from potential threats in chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear environments. The NIOSH CBRN standard is the world’s most stringent certification for SCBA’s. Dräger submitted both high pressure SCBA’s, the AirBoss PSS 100 and Evolution PLUS series, and these passed the stringent requirements.

In addition to providing the highest level of protection for non-CBRN applications, such as fire and hazmat response, Dräger’s enhanced second stage regulator or lung demand valve (LDV) is designed to protect the user from a variety of CBRN threats, including liquid chemical warfare agents, biological agents and alpha and beta particles.

The enhanced CBRN LDV was designed for the highest level of protection as well as simplicity of use. Because of its unique design, upgrading currently fielded SCBA’s will be quick and easy to carry out. In seconds, the user will be able upgrade an existing Dräger SCBA by simply replacing the LDV with the newly enhanced CBRN LDV. Dräger soon expects to have CBRN Upgrade Kits available for NFPA 1981, 1997-Edition SCBA’s making it possible for thousands of emergency responders to economically upgrade their existing Dräger SCBA’s to the highest level of protection.

Accessories approved with the Dräger SCBA’s include 30, 45, and 60-minute cylinders. BACom voice amplifier and radio interface system, spectacle kit, airline system, Prism heads up display and the AirBoss Sentinel warning system.