Label
FirstDefender RMX Handheld Chemical Identification
Fire & Rescue Operations
John Kaminski (x2647)
(Revised)
Title
Authorizing the appropriation and expenditure of $62,000 from the Capital Improvement Fund for the purchase of A FirstDefender RMX Handheld Chemical Identification Analyzer for the Department of Fire and Rescue; waiving the competitive bid requirements of Chapter 187 of the Toledo Municipal Code; and declaring an emergency.
Body
SUMMARY & BACKGROUND:
Responder and community safety are critical when analyzing potentially hazardous materials. Military and civilian first responders need to quickly identify unknown solid and liquid chemicals down range including explosives, toxic industrial chemicals, chemical weapons, narcotics, precursors, white powders and more. The Thermo Scientific(tm) FirstDefender(tm) RMX Handheld Chemical Identification Analyzer can be used as a handheld instrument or integrated onto a tactical robot, providing more flexibility and increased safety in incident response situations that call for rapid, accurate chemical identification.
The Toledo Fire and Rescue Department has a Type I Hazardous Materials Team that is part of the Northwest Ohio Region One Hazmat Team that protects the citizens of Toledo and Northwest Ohio from many inherent chemical and biological threats. Of the many requirements to remain a Type I team, one is the mandate to have the ability to detect and measure known and unknown industrial chemicals using advanced detection equipment. Due to the primary meter that performs this task being damaged beyond repair on a recent hazardous materials incident, the team is forced to utilize the backup equipment that is over 20 years old, which brings its reliability into question. If this antiquated piece of equipment becomes inoperable, TFRD would be in danger of losing its Type I status, that could not only prevent it from responding, but could jeopardize current and future grant funding.
Summary
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