Why I love the brand-new Dr?ger HPS-COM

Why do I love HPS-COM? Let me explain it with a little story:

Once upon a time there was a firefighter named Michael. He did his job in the fire brigade and in the rescue service very gladly despite the dangers. We all know that rescuers like Michael are always there for us when we feel bad and need help urgently. Since he often goes into dangerous situations with his colleagues, he wears his fire helmet every day, in this case the Dr?ger HPS 7000.

Everyone has already experienced that you are only strong enough in a team to accomplish such tasks. Successful teamwork requires good communication and coordination. Since Michael and his companions are often working together over long distances at the location of the mission, radios are used. But again and again Michael was annoyed about their functionality. Always getting the radio out of your pocket, constantly having feedback when you're too close to other colleagues and much more ...

Why are PPE-integrated communication systems important?

... no proper communication was possible for minutes ...

One day this became too much for him - during an indoor fire he got tangled up in a rope with his colleague. In this critical situation (Mayday) no proper communication was possible for minutes, because he could activate the radio, but could not get near the microphone to report the emergency and his position. His colleague didn't have a radio with him. Thank God his colleagues were able to correctly assess the situation and quickly locate and rescue him and his troop man so that no major injuries occurred. Everyone agreed that they had to change something.

And so it came that he was more closely interested in radio accessories. He realized how useful it is when the communication device is integrated into the personal protective equipment (PPE). This ensures that the communication equipment does not interfere with the operation or become dangerous for the user, instead it can be operated intuitively and safely. He was given the task of finding a suitable headset for their helmet together with his colleagues.

How can you cover all these different use cases with one product?

In the beginning they thought about in which situations they would use the headset. Michael quickly realized that the requirements were very different: His boss wanted to have no microphone at all, because he said it would only distract and irritate him from his job. On the other hand, the driver named Max preferred a particularly long microphone placed close to his mouth, as he would often stand next to the loud pump or the fan. A new colleague, who came from another fire brigade, told him enthusiastically about the use of bone sound microphones. Because a skull microphone is always used for the internal fire fighting in order to be able to communicate flawlessly. But it was annoying to use it without a mask, because the voice sounds a bit unfamiliar. Michael didn't even know how to combine all these different requirements.

In addition there was the statement of Sven, the responsible colleague for the helmets: "Oh, helmet headsets are nonsense! The banding only makes them wiggle around and if you want to remove them, you won't be able to mount them properly afterwards."

And so it came to pass that he started to search with all these requirements. However, no matter which product he looked at, he quickly realized that he could only really satisfy one of his colleagues. Oh dear, ... how could he find a good solution?! He searched and searched ...

The answer: Dr?ger HPS-COM

Until he finally came across the Dr?ger HPS-COM. He found the idea promising and ordered units for testing. First, he went to his colleague Sven. He showed him the integrated holding clip and the "Click & Go" function. He took the unit in his hand and mounted it directly into the helmet.

Amazed, he said "So simple? Theoretically, you could even mount it on the way to the incident. The headset stays in place - and I don't have to retrofit the helmets? That's very useful! Above all, I can quickly remove the units if I want to clean them with a towel. If necessary, I can even change the clip and the microphones myself! ATEX & IP67? We'll take them!"

"Not so fast, first I have to convince the other colleagues." Michael was pleased. Afterwards he showed the HPS-COM to his other colleagues. Thanks to the modular design, he took the same unit with him to each colleague, but always quickly changed the microphone.

To his driver Max he gave the unit with the gooseneck / boom microphone. He was happy about the possibility to adjust the microphone flexibly and was surprised about the speech intelligibility even in the environment of background noise. The Active Noise Cancelling filtered out all annoying noises.

His boss was directly convinced by the short microphone. Despite the compact design, it recorded his voice excellently.

He liked the fact that the microphone was outside his field of vision and that he could quickly move it back into the parking position if necessary. In this position, the microphone is held securely in the helmet and thus protected all around. Everyone he showed the HPS-COM was thrilled!

But Michael's personal highlight was yet to come. He had purchased a HPS-COM dual especially for his new colleague. This unit is able to adapt to the respective situation during the mission. The reason for this is the combination of an "ordinary" airborne sound microphone and an integrated skull microphone.

This unit combines the advantages of both microphone types. As soon as the front microphone of this unit is pushed into the parking position, the skull microphone is activated fully automatically. The new colleague was impressive because he didn't know there was such a unit.

"Finally, I can use the same headset for multiple purposes. And it's really easy to switch between the microphones!"

Michael was satisfied that he had found a headset for his helmet with the HPS-COM, which convinced all his colleagues with their individual requirements. They therefore procured the necessary units for the entire fire brigade and were very satisfied with them.

Michael and his colleagues were able to use the HPS-COM to operate their radio more easily and comfortably than before. This made her daily work easier and allowed them to concentrate on her main task - to save lifes.