Most of us will envision a vessel’s manway when someone mentions a Permit-Required Confined Space (PRCS). Plenty of PRCSs will have larger entry/egress portals, but they will all be limited in size or configuration such that they will limit entry and egress from the space. With this common characteristic of limited means of entry/egress, entry/egress with respiratory protection can make matters much worse. When we put rescuers at this increased risk, we ask for serious issues. Take, for example, the Key Largo PRCS incident, where a firefighter had only his Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) to attempt the rescue. As we now know, he could not enter the sewer manhole with his SCBA, so he removed it with the plan to enter and re-don it, but it did not work out. The FF went unconscious and had to be rescued. SCBA’s are wonderful devices; heck, their life-saving devices when they are used properly! So if an SCBA has size limitations yet has the highest Assigned Protection Factor (APF) when used in the pressure-demand (positive pressure) mode, what other options do we have?
Respiratory Protection for a PRCS Rescue Team
