By: Mike Duyck, President, Emergency Technical Decon & David Blankinship, President, Emergent
As we close out a busy and energizing stretch across both Emergency Technical Decon (ETD) and Emergent, we want to take a moment to reflect on where we are today, what we’ve accomplished, and what lies ahead.
ETD: Elevating Decontamination Standards Across the Fire Service
Over the last two months, interest in ETD's Liquid CO2+ decontamination system has grown rapidly as fire departments face new industry pressures and mounting health concerns related to PFAS and other carcinogenic contaminants. More departments are recognizing traditional water-based extractor cleaning not only falls short in toxin removal but also accelerates gear degradation.
At FIERO in South Carolina, we heard directly from departments who are seeing the damage water-based washing has on turnout gear and are now actively pursuing next-generation cleaning technology like liquid CO2. The conversation around cleaning base layers has also started to take off. With new gear containing brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and other compounds, the need to safely and effectively clean not just outerwear but also underlayers has become increasingly urgent.
ETD celebrates a recent critical milestone with the re-verification of our technology by Underwriters Laboratories as a fully verified ISP. This certification reinforces the proven safety and efficacy of our Liquid CO2+ machine in removing PFAS, heavy metals, biologicals, and SVOCs while preserving the protective qualities of turnout gear.
Emergent: Driving Smarter Fire Operations Through Innovation
At Emergent, the past two months have been focused on preparing for the upcoming release of our RMS software platform. We’re especially excited about new features powered by AI, such as auto-narrative tools, which will dramatically reduce the time spent on report writing while improving clarity and consistency.
We’ve also been discussing the needs of departments of all sizes. Reliability, data security, and scalability remain top-of-mind concerns for many agencies—and our team is working hard to ensure our platform not only meets but also exceeds those expectations.
Unlike traditional vendors, Emergent doesn’t just record information after the fact. Our platform starts with operations: tracking units, assignments, and personnel during the call and automatically populates post-incident reports. This eliminates double-entry, reduces report times by up to 80%, and ensures more complete, accurate records.
Emergent isn't just building software—we're solving real problems. From small volunteer departments to large metro agencies, we’re helping teams move faster, operate safer, and make decisions with confidence.
Looking Ahead: A Shared Vision
While ETD and Emergent serve different needs within the fire service, both are deeply aligned in mission: to protect firefighter health, improve operational efficiency, and empower departments with trusted tools and technology.
We’re proud of the progress we’ve made, from advancing decontamination capabilities at ETD to driving smarter data and reporting systems at Emergent. We believe the future of fire service support lies in seamless integration between health, data, and innovation—and we’re building that future together.
Stay connected with us for more updates in the coming months.
