MSA, Motorola Solutions create a Bluetooth solution to improve voice communications on fireground

“This was a firefighter/fire-chief-initiated request,” he said. “They asked us to work with SCBA companies; they asked SCBA companies to work with us. The impetus was that they said, ‘Two of the main pieces of equipment that I have are my radio and my SCBA. They don’t work together, and you guys need to make them work together.’

 “It wasn’t that we didn’t want to work together before; it’s just that the technology enabled us to finally have this opportunity to work together.”

Thus far, testing of the solution has proceeded very well—“we haven’t had any failures”—and the companies will continue to execute more tests to ensure that it meets all requirements associated with the fireground environment, Chauhan said.

MSA will begin shipping G1 SCBA products with the ability to link with Motorola Solutions APX radios as a standard feature beginning in the third quarter, according to an MSA press release. A firmware upgrade to existing G1 SCBA masks that will enable the Bluetooth connectivity to APX radios will be available later this year, according to the company.

“Since we launched our all-new G1 SCBA at FDIC last year, the response from the fire service has been overwhelming,” MSA North American President Nish Vartanian said in a prepared statement. “The advanced technology concepts that we’re introducing this week take firefighter safety to the next level.”