Protect responders during emergency operations -- insist on top-quality gear as specified by the 2017 edition of NFPA 1983.

Completely reorganized for easy referencing and updated for today's challenges and current equipment, NFPA 1983: Standard on Life Safety Rope and Equipment for Emergency Services specifies current minimum requirements for the design, performance, testing, and certification of life safety rope and associated equipment used to support emergency services personnel and civilians during rescue, fire fighting, or other emergency operations, or during training evolutions.

Provisions address each individual piece of auxiliary equipment, including:

• Life safety rope
• Personal escape rope
• Harnesses
• Belts
• Throwlines
• Hardware

Where the manufacturer produces a "system" combining specified rope and equipment items, that combination is tested and certified as a system. Items of equipment not assembled as a system are certified individually.

The 2017 edition of NFPA 1983 aligns requirements for easier access:

To make the Standard easier for members of the fire service to follow and understand, changes in this edition matched up the requirements in:

• Chapter 5: Labeling and Information
• Chapter 6: Design and Construction Requirements
• Chapter 7: Performance Requirements 

Corresponding changes in Chapter 1 address the scope and purpose of the Standard, paving the way for proposed NFPA 1858, an all-new selection, care, and maintenance Standard directly related to 1983.

Update to the latest NFPA 1983 and ensure responders are properly equipped for safe and successful emergency operations