Fire-fighter’s and escape equipment
EEBD
also: emergency escape breathing device
A mask or hood with an air supply of at least 10 minutes. It serves ONLY for escaping from a compartment with a dangerous atmosphere, never for fighting the fire.
Key facts
- It consists of a face mask or a hood and a container of oxygen or compressed air.
- Duration: at least 10 minutes. Enough to get out, not to work.
- The hood and mask are flame-resistant and have a window for visibility; the design leaves the hands free.
- The device carries durable pictograms showing how to use it, because the person reaching for it is in smoke and under stress.
Watch out
The exam distinction: the escape device gives 10 minutes to get out of a compartment; the apparatus of the fire-fighter’s outfit gives 30 minutes to go into the fire. With an EEBD you must not fight the fire or enter tanks.
How it looks in practice
- The devices sit at the critical points: at the very bottom of the engine room, along the long alleyways, everywhere the escape route is longest. The placement is shown on the fire control plan.
From the deck: sea practice, not regulation. Details vary with the ship and the owner.
Legal basis
SOLAS II-2/13.3.4 (accommodation: at least two devices) and II-2/13.4.3 (machinery spaces: placed where visible and quickly reachable, numbers and places on the fire control plan), as amended by res. MSC.99(73), in force since 01.07.2002. Technical requirements: IMO circular MSC/Circ.849.
This is not a legal text: when in doubt, the current wording of the Convention and the FSS Code decides.
Related STCW training
Fire prevention and fire fighting (STCW A-VI/1-2).