Rescue task force gear

Jdexter

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Looking for feedback from fire/medic crews who are issued gear for active shooter/rescue task force. We're in the process of implementing rescue task force and the FD has been given the opportunity to just say what they'd like. Looking to see what setup people are running and what they like and don't like and if you could purchase again what would you do different.

Please no; here's what I suggest. I could do that myself I'm looking for end user feedback for this specific purpose from those in the field. Thanks.


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ggammell

Does not pass up an opportunity to criticize P&S.
Our FD went from the "these look cool" S&S skeletonized plate carrier to the new Velocity Systems carrier specifically for RTF medics. Being able to add a pouch or two on the MOLLE was a god add on.

I'm not sure of the plates but the previous ones looked to be unknown brand Level 4 stand alone. Our dept is buying new plates for officers so I wouldn't be surprised to see them get the same units.
 

Jdexter

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Our FD went from the "these look cool" S&S skeletonized plate carrier to the new Velocity Systems carrier specifically for RTF medics. Being able to add a pouch or two on the MOLLE was a god add on.

I'm not sure of the plates but the previous ones looked to be unknown brand Level 4 stand alone. Our dept is buying new plates for officers so I wouldn't be surprised to see them get the same units.

Do you know if they run a separate med bag as well or just roll with what they have on the vest?


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During the day I'm a .gov contractor but I've been a volunteer EMT since May 2001. My department works in conjunction with our PD and have several guys on our squad who also have a Tac Med cert (myself included) and have consequently been given the green light to accompany PD into "warm zones" provided we are wearing armor.

My personal kit is a First Spear Strandhogg with hybrid ceramic/poly 3++ plates that stop all 5.56 rounds (IMO the ideal protection level for all CONUS operations) but that was purchased out of pocket. We are currently in the planning stages of grant writing to get funding and soliciting RFIs for a department wide armor acquisition.

I know this is crazy talk, but AR500 plates are honestly not a terrible idea for fire/EMS. They are indestructible and they are cost effective. If your department is anything like mine, gear gets used and abused pretty heavily. We run about 4500 calls/year out of a single HQ. I know I take excellent care of my own plates, but I would not trust the other ~70 members to take the same care. You can get level IV ceramic Hesco plates for about $170 each. They are excellent plates for the money and were it not for their heavy weight, they would honestly be great even for going to war. But without in place protocols for annual xray inspection, I think leaving them to bounce around on rigs would open the Department up to liability. Steel doesn't require anything other than visual inspection to my knowledge. Also from a procurement perspective, I know that we are going to be buying everything with a 1 time Federal grant. I know that we would not be able to likely get another grant to replace ceramic plates in 3 to 5 years. So steel wins again in that respect.

Seeing as EMTs should never be coming under direct fire anyway unless something has gone horribly wrong, I actually am not terribly opposed to equipping rigs with AR 500. But it should be a conscious decision with informed participants.

Final caveat: If you are equipping EMTs to join entry teams, then this advice changes completely. Everything I said above applies to bog standard Street EMT's who will be staging several blocks away (at least) from any active shooter situation.
 

Sparky-KB

Newbie
I'm looking for the same info.

We've been working on our RTF plan for awhile now but our Chief was against armor at first. We've been working on getting him to warm up to the idea and what happened in Vegas may have been enough to get him to go with it. A couple of us are working on an armor proposal to submit.

Main threat concerns would be 5.56 (including M855 and M193), M80 Ball, and 7.62x39. Actual armor piercing ammo is not a priority. I need to find something cost effective that will defeat the listed threats but have a long "shelf life" as it is unlikely to be something that will be on a continuous replacement schedule.

I'm not a huge fan of steel plates for the obvious reasons but keep coming back to them as the most likely solution all things considered. The UHMWPE plates are most likely out due to their performance against common M855. Ceramic plates are most likely out due to potential cracking/X-Ray needs/replacement schedule. Steel, while not ideal, is cheap and will last a long time under less than ideal conditions.

My biggest concern with steel is ricochet potential and spalling. It would suck to stop a round to the chest only to take it through the chin into the head.

Are there any cost effective (ie inexpensive) plates that are a steel/UHMWPE hybrid? Something that can defeat M855 (steel) and M193 (UHMWPE) with reduced risk of spalling and ricochet would be ideal. It seems like a steel plate with a UHMWPE layer on top would be able to do that but who knows. I've not been able to find anything like that yet.

Any other Fire/EMS/PD folks want to chime in with the armor solutions you've come up with?

Thanks.
 

Dr. Cornwallis

Regular Member
I’m currently looking at purchasing a Crye JPC 2.0 and Hesco 3610’s. I personally would want as light a plate as possible.


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ggammell

Does not pass up an opportunity to criticize P&S.
American Blast systems has a 15 year warranty on their plates. Any they are fairly light weight.
 
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