Rapid, reliable and hygienic results when space is tight
How fire services benefit from the MEIKO solution
The concept of turning old into new is far from simple when it comes to a respiratory protective equipment workshop. There's no doubt the technology can be updated – but will the results genuinely make life easier for the RPE technicians?
In many cases, the only way to really improve the workflow for RPE technicians would be to tear down walls and add on an entire new wing! This is sometimes the only way to meet the challenge of creating a safe, hygienic and efficient working environment. The following examples show how MEIKO has addressed these challenges in Germany and Switzerland.
Quality counts
"We do our best to provide our colleagues with perfectly hygienic respiratory protective equipment. For us, it's quality that counts," says Olaf Fernys. He is a fire chief and a member of the fire service technical centre (FTZ) in the district of Leipzig. His top priority is ensuring that the cleaning results are perfectly hygienic.
The fact that the TopClean M cleaning and disinfection machine does a great job is clear from a glance at the regulator hoses, which "are just as black as they were on the first day, even after all those cleaning cycles!" This is a good indication that they have been thoroughly washed without wearing out the material.
Time savings
Their Swiss colleagues at the company fire service of the pharmaceutical giant Roche in Basel are equally enthusiastic, especially when it comes to the time savings and high levels of hygiene they can now achieve in their RPE workshop after moving to a new service building.
Niklaus Lerch, duty group manager of the company fire service, lobbied for the switch to the MEIKO solution. He noted that while it currently took 42 minutes to clean four masks and another 45 minutes to dry them, the new TopClean M machine would clean them in just six minutes and dry them significantly faster than before.
Cost-effective solution
Hilpoltstein Fire Service is a great example of how MEIKO solutions can be faster, healthier and more affordable. The soak tanks the team previously used for manual chemical mask-cleaning were replaced by a reliable mechanical process in the TopClean M.
This eliminated the need for the expensive extraction system that the fire service would otherwise have had to install to remove hazardous fumes. "It actually worked out cheaper for the municipality," says Matthias Massopust, RPE technician for the Hilpoltstein Fire Service.
Top-notch performance in a compact package
The Swiss capital's fire service also relies on mechanical mask-cleaning solutions from MEIKO. Markus Kummer, one of five RPE technicians, argues that their decision was based on the ability to achieve
"The TopClean M fitted in perfectly with the rest of the equipment in our workshop, and it also offers fantastic results that meet our needs“.
Every fire service has its own unique tasks and challenges. These should be reflected in the configuration of each fire service's respiratory protective equipment (RPE) workshops, cleaning centres and hygiene hubs. That's the only way to guarantee rapid, reliable and hygienic results when space is tight – for everyone who wears BA masks, and everyone who deals with them afterwards.
Is it still relevant today to talk about a workshop that cleans respiratory protective equipment (RPE)?
Or should we be using a different term?
- #Cleaning centre
- #Hygiene hub
- #…
What do you think? Send us your ideas!
