“Design made us look differently at our firefighters’ daily routine”

We’re still a long way from this day. I heard he completed a prototype, but we do not have it here at the station. Thomas updated us on a regular basis, and I hope his connections to the business world lead him to an interesting position. I think he’s on the right track with his job at Courant. We are awaiting the results of his final degree project. Those who dedicated time to Fire Line need to see the fruits of their labor in order to feel like it was time well-spent. Presenting the prototype and putting it at our disposal at the fire station would be a great way to illustrate the project.

Fire Line by Jocelyne Le Boeuf, Director of Studies

Life Line for Firemen – in sealed environments

Final degree project by Thomas Buisson

“I don’t think I could ever again work on a topic without totally immersing myself in its related environment”

To Thomas Buisson, a designer must immerse himself in real conditions and meet a variety of professionals and experts. That’s why, as part of a self-willed field investigation conducted prior to launching his final degree project he was an observer for more than a month at the Carquefou Fire Service Department, under the supervision of Captain Jean-Baptiste Floch, and took part in many different drills and training sessions. Then he furthered his observation of the many working methods implemented at CTA-CODIS 44 (the local Fire and Emergency Services Department) with a comparative study of the equipment used in the many fire stations of the area. He gained a very comprehensive overview of the wholesalers during a one-day national firemen convention held in Saint-Étienne (Eastern France) in 2009.

But what helped Thomas Buisson understand what a designer could contribute in this context are first and foremost his social skills and his hands-on abilities. He even initiated creativity sessions with firemen, which prompted more or less realistic lines of work such as: “see-through walls,” “predicting accidents,” “having several arms,” “breathing trough smoke without a respiratory device.”

A simple and sturdy device that can been in the dark…

Among the many fields of action covered by firemen, Thomas Buisson eventually decided to focus his project on hostile fires. Hostiles fires amount to 9 % of fire service interventions but offer a “significant field of action for designers.” The young designer in-the-making had the opportunity to identify a series of issues raised by the “life line,” a device designed for a two-men team already out there at the front to find their way through the fire and smoked up environment: this material is heavy-duty and oftentimes makes it hard for the two-men teams to meet their peers’ path. Though more than necessary for exchanging information in such risky environments, the radio contact can sometimes be disrupted by the surrounding noise.

The project carried out by Thomas Buisson – Fire Line – materializes as a carrying bag that houses a lightweight – 2 kg instead of the usual 15 kg – and luminescent “life line.” The carrying bag can be slung over the shoulder and kept at hand’s reach for optimum control of the line’s unwinding speed. The bag features a communication system based on radio wave-transmitted light signals. His designer’s research also included selecting relevant materials: non-flammable fire-resistant fibers (Kermel) for the carrying bag, copper, aramid fiber and silicon for the rope, translucid polycarbonate for the olive-shaped markers placed every 10 meter on the rope so that firemen can keep track of the distance walked.

Fire Line could also be implemented in other fields such as spelunking/speleogy or deep-sea diving.

Looking ahead: partnerships and networks

Thomas Buisson prepared a Master’s in Business Management (a double curriculum based on a partnership between L’École de design Nantes Atlantique and the Nantes Business Administration Institute). The knowledge gained during this management-oriented training equipped him with sufficient skills to address his project with a truly economic dimension and to knit fruitful contacts with equipment manufacturers. All throughout the advancement of his project, the young designer has built up a reliable professional network. So much so that his collaboration with French company Courant – an innovative company specializing in a specific range of professional materials) paved the way to a patent deposit and to a working prototype.

Who is Jean-Baptiste Floch?

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