Broadband  |  2023-04-26

Firefighter Search and Rescue Device from MSA Safety to Be Available on FirstNet

Curated by: Gert Jan Wolf - Editor-in Chief for The Critical Communications Review

MSA Safety, Inc. (NYSE: MSA) today announced that its handheld LUNAR™ Connected Device can be used on FirstNet® to provide firefighters with a solution to help strengthen incident response. LUNAR, a wireless, search and rescue device for firefighters that doubles as a personal thermal imaging camera, is the first device of its kind to work with the FirstNet network.

The MSA Safety LUNAR™ Connected Device is the first device of its kind to work with FirstNet®, a nationwide high-speed broadband communications platform. LUNAR, a wireless, search and rescue device for firefighters that doubles as a personal thermal imaging camera, is part of the MSA Connected Firefighter Platform, which is a suite of products engineered to work together to help firefighters see and assess a situation like never before.

LUNAR devices manufactured and shipped as of May 2023 have already been certified as FirstNet capable.

"We continuously look for ways to enhance firefighter safety and to help keep firefighters better connected to each other and incident commanders," said Jason Traynor, MSA Safety's General Manager of Global Fire Service Products. "LUNAR delivers on MSA's vision of bringing new-to-world technology to the fire service, while also delivering on our mission of helping to keep firefighters safe on the job."

LUNAR joins the FirstNet ecosystem through the FirstNet Embedded IoT Program, which allows organizations like MSA Safety to integrate FirstNet into industry-leading FirstNet-eligible devices. This creates a single, end-to-end solution for FirstNet-eligible customers. FirstNet embedded solutions go through extensive review process to ensure they meet the highest standards for reliability, security and performance.

LUNAR is part of the MSA Connected Firefighter Platform, which is a suite of products engineered to work together to help firefighters see and assess a situation like never before. The platform helps to improve firefighter safety by bringing together technology-based equipment and tools to enhance connectivity, accountability, and communications, both on and off the fireground.

"We're pleased to welcome MSA Safety as a member of our FirstNet IoT Embedded Program," said Matt Walsh, assistant vice president, product management and development, FirstNet Program at AT&T. "This allows us to further our mission to deploy, operate, maintain, and enhance the only nationwide wireless platform dedicated to public safety and the extended community that support public safety response."

Beyond enhanced thermal imaging capability with edge detection, LUNAR also features firefighter-to-firefighter ranging, GPS capability, and MSA's proprietary Firefighting Assisting Search Technology (F.A.S.T.), which alerts and provides other LUNAR devices with real-time information to aid in locating downed team members. A LUNAR device's GPS capabilities enable FireGrid Monitor Map View and shows the approximate location of firefighters while they're outside of a structure, which can aide incident commanders with situational awareness.

Additionally, LUNAR offers cloud connectivity to enhance firefighter safety and accountability by providing incident command with an overview of on-scene operations by aggregating data from other MSA devices, including the G1 self-contained breathing apparatus. In use, LUNAR can transmit helpful self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) information such as cylinder air pressure, battery status and various alarm indicators.