MSA ICM TxR Unit User manual

TAL 605 (L) Rev. 0 © MSA 2006 Prnt. Spec. 10000005389(A) Mat. 10068929
Doc. 10068929
The warranties made by MSA with respect to the product are voided if the product is
not installed, used and serviced in accordance with the instructions in this manual.
Please protect yourself and your employees by following the instructions. Please read
and observe the WARNINGS and CAUTIONS inside. For any additional information rela-
tive to use or repair, write or call 1-800-MSA-2222 during regular working hours.
NOTE:This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digi-
tal device, pursuant to Part15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reason-
able protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment gener-
ates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance
with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However,
there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equip-
ment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be deter-
mined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the
interference by one or moreof the following measures:
• Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
• Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.
•Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiv-
er is connected.
• Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.
Modifications not expressly approved by MSA could void the user's authority to operate the
equipment
THIS MANUAL MUST BE CAREFULLYREAD AND FOLLOWED BY ALL PERSONS WHO HAVE
OR WILL HAVE THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR INSTALLING OR USING THIS EQUIPMENT. This
equipment will perform as designed only if installed and used according to the instruc-
tions. OTHERWISE IT COULD FAIL TO PERFORM AS DESIGNED, AND PERSONS WHO RELY
ON THE AIR MASK COULD SUSTAIN SERIOUS PERSONAL INJURY OR DEATH.
ICM®TxR Unit ICM TxR
Base Station Incident
Command Module and
PC Software
OPERATION INSTRUCTIONS

ICM TXR BASE STATION INCIDENT COMMAND
MODULE (BASE STATION):
This device contains FCC ID:RPN-10069330. This device
has been designed to operate with the antennas listed in
this manual. These antennas have a maximum gain of
3dBi. Antennas not included in this list, or those having a
gain greater than 3dBi, are strictly prohibited for use with
this device. The required antenna impedance is 50 ohms.
The external antennas used for this mobile transmitter
must provide a separation distance of at least 20 cm from
all persons and must not be co-located or operating in
conjunction with any other antenna or transmitter.
ICM TXR UNIT
Antenna care
Use only the supplied integral antenna. Unauthorized
antenna modifications, or attachments, could damage the
ICM TxR Unit and may violate U.S. Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) regulations. The
internal antenna used for this portable transmitter must
not be co-located or operated in conjunction with any
other antenna or transmitter.
RF Exposure
Tests for SAR (Specific Absorption Rate) are conducted
using standard operating positions specified by the FCC
with the ICM TxR Unit transmitting at its highest certified
power level in all tested frequency bands. Although the
SAR is determined at the highest certified power level, the
actual SAR level of the ICM TxR Unit during operation
may be well below the maximum value. The ICM TxR Unit
is designed to operate at multiple power levels so as to
use only the power required to reach the network. In gen-
eral, the closer the ICM TxR Unit is to a wireless base sta-
tion antenna, the lower the power output. Before an ICM
TxR Unit is available for sale to the professional, it must
be tested and certified by the FCC to ensure that it does
not exceed the limit established by the government
adopted requirement for safe exposure. The tests are per-
formed in positions and locations (e.g., at the ear) as
required by the FCC for each model. While there may be
differences between the SAR levels of various ICM TxR
Units and at various positions, they all meet the govern-
ment requirement for safe exposure.
HEALTH AND SAFETY INFORMATION FCC
Exposure to Radio Frequency (RF) Signals
The wireless ICM TxR Unit is a radio transmitter and
receiver. It is designed and manufactured not to exceed
the emission limits for exposure to radio frequency (RF)
energy set by the Federal Communications Commission
of the U.S. Government. These limits are part of compre-
hensive guidelines and established permitted levels of RF
energy for the general population. The guidelines are
based on the safety standards previously set by both U.S.
and international standards bodies:
This EUT (Equipment Under Test) has been shown to be
capable of compliance for localized SAR uncontrolled
environment/general population exposure limits specified
in ANSI/IEEE Std. C95.1-1992 and has been tested in
accordance with the measurement procedures specified in
FCC/OET Bulletin 65 Supplement C (2001) and IEEE Std.
1528-2003 December 2003.
The highest SAR values for the ICM TxR Unit worn on the
body is outlined below:
SAR (1g) = 0.072 W/Kg device with zero Inches (cm) dis-
tance
The standards include a substantial safety margin
designed to assure the safety of all persons, regardless of
age and health. The exposure standard for the wireless
ICM TxR Unit employs a unit of measurement known as
the SAR (Specific Absorption Rate). In the U.S. and
Canada, the SAR limit for ICM TxR Unit used by the pub-
lic is 1.6 watts/kg (W/kg) averaged over one gram of tis-
sue. The standard incorporates a substantial margin of
safety to give additional protection for the public and to
account for any variations within the population.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Description of ICM TxR Unit and Base
Station Interface...............................................................2
PC System Requirements..................................................3
Installing the Software........................................................5
Installing the Hardware ......................................................5
Using the ICM TxR Accountability Software .....................7
Starting the MSA ICM TxR Accountability Software .........7
Configuring the SCBA Monitoring Settings .......................7
Monitoring SCBA Using the Base Station .........................9
Getting Started...................................................................9
Using Teams.....................................................................10
SCBA Statistics Display ...................................................10
The Evacuation Command...............................................11
PAR Timer ........................................................................12
Loss of Radio Communication.........................................12
Using Multiple Base Stations...........................................12
Incident Report Generation..............................................13
Accountability of Firefighters without Telemetry..............17
ID Tag Writer Function......................................................19
Caring for the Base Station..............................................21
Warranty ...........................................................................25
Quick Reference for the ICM TxR System.......................25
For the Firefighter.............................................................25
For the Incident Commander...........................................25
DESCRIPTION AND REQUIREMENTS
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INTERFERENCE WITH ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
Most modern electronic equipment is shielded from RF
signals. However, certain electronic equipment may not
be shielded against the RF signals from the ICM TxR Unit.
Pacemakers
Consult a physician or the pacemaker manufacturer with
any questions regarding the effect of RF signals on a spe-
cific pacemaker. When using a pacemaker, verify that the
device is being used in accordance with the safety
requirements associated with the pacemaker, which might
include the following:
• Always keep the device more than 7 inches (20 cm)
from the pacemaker when the device is turned on.
• Do not carry the device in a breast pocket.
• If any interference is suspected to be taking place, turn
the ICM TxR Unit off immediately.
Hearing aids
Some digital wireless devices may interfere with select
hearing aids. In the event of such interference, consult the
service provider or contact the manufacturer of the hear-
ing aid to discuss alternatives.
Other medical devices
If the user of the ICM TxR Unit is using any other personal
medical device, consult the manufacturer of the device to
determine if the device is adequately shielded from exter-
nal RF energy. A physician may be able to assist in
obtaining this information.
Health care facilities
Turn the ICM TxR Unit off in health care facilities if any
regulations are posted in these areas prohibiting the use
of such electronic devices. Hospitals or health care facili-
ties may use equipment that could be sensitive to external
RF energy.
The base station is not intrinsically safe. DO NOT use
in hazardous atmosphere environments. Failure to fol-
low this warning can result in serious personal injury
or death.
DESCRIPTION OF ICM TXR UNIT AND BASE STATION
INTERFACE
The ICM TxR Unit on the SCBA is designed to communi-
cate with the base station and PC. This system provides
the ability to monitor firefighters from a remote location.
When an SCBA is pressurized, the ICM TxR Unit is auto-
matically activated. It then waits to receive a signal from
the base station to begin the log-on process. After all of
the initial information has been obtained by the base sta-
tion from the ICM TxR Unit, the PC software will serve as
a communication link to the firefighter.
ID Tags are used with the ICM TxR Units to assign names
and teams to the SCBA. By utilizing ID tags, each fire-
fighter can be identified on the PC software screen by
name and team assignment.
PC SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Operating System: Windows XP Service Pack 1 or higher
or Windows 2000 Professional Service Pack 3 or higher.
Minimum Hardware Requirements:
1 GHz Pentium III processor or equivalent / 256 MB RAM
/ USB 1.1 / 16 MB graphic card (resolution 1024x768
pixel, 256 colors) / 200 MB free disk space.
Optimum Hardware Requirements (Preferred):
1.8 GHz Pentium IV processor or greater / 512 MB RAM /
32 MB AGP graphic card (resolution 1024x768 pixel or
greater, 16.7 Mio colors, 2 RGB or DVI) / 1.5 GB free disk
space.
Remote PC speakers may be required to ensure that the
incident commander is able to hear audible warnings from
the PC.
Follow the PC or notebook computer manufacturer’s
recommendations for exposure to environmental con-
ditions to prevent damage to the system. Failure to do
so may cause system failure and the loss of monitor-
ing capability on the PC.
This PC software for the ICM TxR Unit was prepared
and tested carefully and conscientiously. Because of
the great variety of hardware and software that exists,
it is not possible to check all applications.
DESCRIPTION AND REQUIREMENTS
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INSTALLATION
INSTALLING THE SOFTWARE
1. Insert the MSA ICM TxR Accountability software into
the CD drive.
2. The program will begin to install automatically upon
insertion of the CD. If the program does not launch
automatically, Locate the CD drive (Commonly D:
Drive) and open the file titled “setup.exe”.
3. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the
software installation process.
Note: The software can only be installed by the PC
administrator or by a person that has full read/write
access to the PC. Users of the software must be at least
a “main user” registered with the PC. “Guest” users will
not be able to access the MSA ICM TxR Accountability
software.
INSTALLING THE HARDWARE
Installation of this device requires professional instal-
lation. Base station antenna attachment should only
be performed after proper instruction. DO NOT oper-
ate the system without the antenna properly attached
to the base station.
Note: A broken or defective antenna must be replaced by
a professional installer only.
1. Connect power cord to the left side of the base sta-
tion and plug it into a DC (12-24 V) vehicle power out-
let. (An AC power adapter (P/N 10047342) is also
available. This adapter is designed to connect to a
standard 120V outlet.).
2. Connect the antenna to the base station by threading
the TNC fitting on to the jack on the right side of the
base station.
Note: The base of the antenna has a magnetic platform.
It is recommended that it be placed in an area that is
above the base station and is free from obstruction, such
as the roof of a vehicle.
Use only antennas provided by MSA for use with this
base station. Failure to do so will be in violation of the
FCC approval of this device. Antenna: P/N 10072527;
Magnetic Base: P/N 10072528
3. Connect the USB cable to the port on the left side of
the base station and to an empty USB port on the PC.
Note: Windows may prompt for driver installation when
the base station is first connected to the USB port on the
PC. If this occurs simply follow the steps on the screen.
The drivers are located on the MSA ICM TxR
Accountability software CD.
Note: If the message below appears while installing the
drivers, click “Continue Anyway”. This only indicates that
the drivers used in the MSA Accountability Software are
not registered with Microsoft.
Use only USB cables provided by MSA for use with
this base station. Failure to do so will be in violation
of the FCC approval of this device.
4. The base station has two (2) holes in the housing that
can be used to mount the base station to a wall or
table top.
The base station is not waterproof. Do not mount
base station to exterior of vehicle.
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USING THE ICM TXR ACCOUNTABILITY SOFTWARE
Using the ICM TxR Accountability Software
Starting the MSA ICM TxR Accountability Software
1. Locate the icon on the desktop titled “MSA ICM
TxR Accountability”, and open the software pro-
gram. The program can also be found under Start /
Program Files / MSA / MSA ICM TxR Accountability.
2. The software will open to the main screen of the
accountability software.
Note: Users of the software must be at least a “main
user” registered with the PC. “Guest” users will not be
able to access the MSA ICM TxR Accountability software.
If the icon or the program cannot be located, contact the
PC Administrator.
Configuring the SCBA Monitoring Settings
1. In the menus on the main screen, click SYSTEM, SET-
TINGS, SETTING SCBA MONITORING
2. The settings window will appear.
3. The default settings are shown in the image above.
a. “Team strength” refers to the number of firefighters
allowed in a single team. The default is 6 firefight-
ers per team.
b. “Pressure Unit” refers to the unit by which cylinder
pressure will be displayed. The default is PSI.
c. “Icon” allows the selection of the helmet icon that
will appear to represent each firefighter being moni-
tored. The default is the “traditional helmet”.
d. The “PAR timer” setting is the time interval in which
the PAR (Personnel Accountability Report) reminder
will be displayed during an incident. The default is
15 minutes.
e. “Remaining time alert” determines the set point
for the remaining time alert pop-up window. The
default is 10 minutes.
f. “Color” refers to the cylinder pressure for each fire-
fighter. By default, the following color scheme has
been chosen to remain consistent with that of the
heads up display to build consistency within the fire
scene.
• New Person – BLUE
• Cylinder Pressure above 50% - GREEN
• Cylinder Pressure between 25% and 50% -
YELLOW
•Cylinder Pressure below 25% - RED
g.“Allow single evacuation” permits a single fire-
fighter to be sent an evacuation command.
4. Under the “Alarms” tab, the alarms that will be dis-
played during an SCBA monitoring session can be
changed. The default settings are shown above.
a. “Motion Alarm” will alert when the PASS alarm is
activated by a firefighter due to lack of motion. The
default sound will be that of the ICM TxR Unit’s
PASS alarm.
b. “Temperature alert” refers to the thermal alarm
activated by a firefighter’s ICM Unit. A pop up
warning window can be enabled or disabled by
checking the box next to “Temperature alert”. A
thermometer icon will be displayed in the SCBA
statistics window in the event of a thermal alarm for
any firefighter regardless of this box being checked.
c. “Low battery alert” will alert when a firefighter’s
ICM TxR Unit has a low battery condition. A pop
up warning window can be enabled or disabled by
checking the box next to “Low battery alert”. A
battery icon will be displayed in the SCBA statistics
window in the event of a low battery alarm for any
firefighter regardless of this box being checked.
d. “Pressure alarm” will alert when a firefighter has
reached approximately 25% of full cylinder pressure.
The default sound is that of the Audi-Larm™ Audible
Alarm ringing.
e. “Manual alarm” will alert when the PASS alarm has
been activated manually by a firefighter. The default
sound will be that of the ICM TxR Unit’s PASS
alarm.
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USING THE ICM TXR ACCOUNTABILITY SOFTWARE
f. “Loss of radio link” will alert when a firefighter’s
ICM TxR Unit has lost radio communication with the
base station. This will occur when the device is out
of range or in an area of poor radio communication.
A pop up warning window can be enabled or dis-
abled by checking the box next to “Loss of radio
link”. A red X over an antenna icon will be displayed
in the SCBA statistics window and next to the fire-
fighter’s helmet icon if the ICM TxR Unit loses com-
munication with the base station regardless of this
box being checked.
g. “Supply voltage alert” will alert when the power
supply to the base station has been disconnected
during a monitoring session.
h. “PAR alert” will alert when the specified PAR time
has been reached during a monitoring session.
i. “Remaining time alert” will alert when a firefight-
er’s ICM TxR Unit has calculated the remaining time
specified in the white textbox of this window. A
pop up warning window can be enabled or disabled
by checking the box next to “Remaining time alert”.
The time remaining calculated by the ICM TxR Unit
is always displayed in the SCBA statistics window
regardless of this box being checked.
By default, the ICM TxR Unit calculates the remaining
time based on the time to reach 0 PSI. In the ICM Tx
Data Program software, ICM TxR Units can be config-
ured to calculate remaining time based on the time to
reach the low pressure alarm point. Before monitoring
SCBA using this software, be sure of the time remain-
ing calculation that the ICM TxR Unit is using.
Note: The sounds associated with each of these alarms
can be changed under this menu. To assign a new sound
to any of the alarms shown, select an appropriate .wav
file. The .wav file must be renamed to match the alarm
file name specified as the default shown above. For
example, to replace the alarm sound for the motion alarm,
rename the desired .wav file to Sound1.wav before select-
ing. To replace other sound files, simply rename the
desired .wav file so that it matches the default name
shown for that alarm.
5. Under the “Default cylinder pressure” tab, the default
cylinder types and estimated service times can be
edited. These default cylinder types are for use when
firefighter’s without ICM TxR Units are being account-
ed for using this PC software. Refer to the
Accountability of Firefighters without Telemetry section
of this manual for additional information.
a. To review/edit all of the cylinder types available,
double click the open file folder icon in the upper
left portion of this window.
b. To search for a specific type of cylinder, single click
the open file folder . The data fields will highlight
in yellow. Search criteria can be entered at this
time. Click the open file folder icon again after
search text has been entered and all cylinder types
available that meet the search criteria will be dis-
played.
For example: To search for only 4500 psi cylinders:
1. Click the open file folder icon ONCE.
2. Type 4500 in the “Initial Pressure Field”.
3. Click the open file folder icon ONCE more.
4. A list off all 4500 psi cylinders available for selection
will be displayed.
Standard cylinder options provided with the software:
c. Select a cylinder pressure rating and breathing rate
for use in estimating service time remaining for fire-
fighters without ICM TxR Units.
d. “Initial Pressure” describes the maximum working
pressure of the cylinder.
e. “Decrease per minute” describes the rate of pres-
sure decrease per minute that the PC will simulate
for a firefighter without and ICM TxR Unit. The
default rates are based on either the NFPA breath-
ing rate (100 LPM) or the NIOSH breathing rate (40
LPM).
f. “Pressure for 0 minute” describes the pressure
that will be considered to be the end of service for a
firefighter without an ICM TxR Unit.
g. To make a particular cylinder type and breathing
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rate the default for firefighters without an ICM TxR
Unit, check the box labeled “standard”.
6. After making settings changes, the SAVE icon in
the upper left hand corner must be clicked before
exiting the settings window.
Note: If the save icon is not clicked before closing
the settings window, the changes will not take effect.
7. Close the settings window, the program will then
return to the main screen.
MONITORING SCBA USING THE BASE STATION
Getting Started
1. To begin monitoring SCBAs using the base station
software, click INCIDENT, SCBA MONITORING, SCBA
MONITORING in the main screen of the base station
software.
2. The SCBA monitoring window will appear.
3. Check the status of the base station.
a. The LED labeled “PC Link” will should begin to
alternate from RED to GREEN for approximately 20
seconds. When the “PC Link” LED stops flashing
and remains GREEN, the base station is ready to
begin logging firefighters on to the system.
b. The LED labeled “Power” should be GREEN. If the
“PC Link” light is not GREEN, verify that the base
station is connected properly.
4. As firefighters pressurize their SCBA and the ICM TxR
Units are turned on, helmet icons (blue by default) will
appear in the “holding bin” frame of the SCBA moni-
toring window. The “holding bin” is the white area in
the upper left portion of the window. When the icon
first appears, it displays “Activated” under the helmet
icon. When the firefighter is fully logged on to the sys-
tem, the helmet icon will change to the color corre-
sponding to the current cylinder pressure. By default,
the colors indicating cylinder pressure will correspond
with the colors displayed in the NightFighter Heads-
Up Display System receiver.
Helmet icon in the “holding bin”
5. The full logon process for a given unit is less than 1
minute.
a. During the log-on process, the PC acquires data
such as name ID, Team assignment, pressure type,
and current pressure from the ICM TxR Unit.
b. During the log-on process the helmet icon may
jump from the “holding bin” into a team automati-
cally if a team ID was assigned to the ICM TxR Unit
using an ID Tag.
c. Refer to the ID Tag Writer Function of this manual
for additional information on team assignments.
6. When the helmet icon changes from blue to a color
corresponding to the cylinder pressure (RED, YEL-
LOW, GREEN by default), the ICM TxR Unit has fully
logged on to the base station. The pressure reading is
the last piece of information that the base station
reads from the ICM TxR Unit before the log on
process is complete. To confirm that a particular unit
has completely logged on to the base station, verify
that the antenna icon in the lower right corner of the
SCBA statistics frame is present.
On the ICM TxR Unit, an antenna icon will be present in
the upper right corner of the LCD display.
Note: If the ICM TxR Unit is turned off
before the full log in processes is complet-
ed, the corresponding helmet icon will
remain in the “holding bin” until the SCBA
monitoring window has been closed. For
example, if an ICM TxR Unit is turned on
and has begun to log on to the base sta-
tion, if this ICM TxR Unit is then turned off before the log
on process has been completed, a “ghost” icon will
remain in the “holding bin” even though the ICM TxR Unit
has been turned off. If that ICM TxR Unit is then turned
on again, a new helmet icon will appear and the unit will
begin the log on process again. In this case, even if the
ICM TxR Unit completes the log in process, a “ghost” hel-
met icon for that unit may remain in the “holding bin” until
USING THE ICM TXR ACCOUNTABILITY SOFTWARE
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the SCBA monitoring window. “Ghost” icons can be
removed by right clicking the icon (or double left clicking)
and selecting “remove person”.
Note: Once a firefighter has been fully logged on to a
base station, the ICM TxR Unit can not be monitored by
another base station until the ICM TxR Unit has been
turned off and completely logged off of the current base
station.
Using Teams
Note: As firefighters appear in the “holding bin” as their
SCBAs are turned on, they can be monitored most effec-
tively by creating teams and dragging the icons into the
teams. Firefighters can be monitored individually by click-
ing on the icon while they are in the “holding bin”. The
information for each highlighted firefighter will be dis-
played in the lower left frame of the screen.
Creating Teams
1. Click the NEW TEAM button at the top of the screen.
• A team window will appear in the column to the
right.
• As many teams as needed can be created.
• Teams will be named in succession, i.e. Team 1,
Team 2, Team 3, etc.
• Team order can be rearranged by RIGHT clicking
and dragging the team to the desired location.
Adding a Firefighter to a Team
Drag the icon from the “holding bin” to the appropriate
team.
Note: To drag multiple firefighters into a team at once,
click and hold the left mouse button and draw a box
around the firefighters to be moved. Release the left
mouse button. Select any of the highlighted firefighters
with the left mouse button and drag them into the appro-
priate team.
Monitoring a Team
Click on the team of interest on the right side of the
screen.
• All team members’ statistics will appear in the lower
left portion of the screen.
•To scroll between teams, the “page up” and “page
down” keys can be used in addition to clicking the
mouse.
Changing the Team Name
1. Click in the white text box in the upper left corner of
the team window.
2. Type a new name and press enter.
Note: To retrieve previously entered team names from
past sessions, click the drop down menu arrow at the far
right side of this text box. All past team names will be
displayed for selection.
Adding “Comments” to a Team
1. Click in text box under the team name text box.
2. Type any additional team comments and press enter.
Note: To retrieve previously entered comments from past
sessions, click the drop down menu arrow at the far right
side of this text box. All past team comments will be dis-
played for selection.
Using Team ID Tags
Team ID tags can be used to assign permanent
team/truck assignment to a particular ICM TxR Unit. By
scanning a Team ID tag into an ICM TxR Unit, teams will
be created automatically when a firefighter pressurizes his
SCBA. In this case, when a firefighter pressurizes his
SCBA, the helmet icon associated with that firefighter will
automatically move from the “holding bin” to the appropri-
ate team and position assignment. For more information
on programming and using Team ID tags, refer to the
Using the ID Tag Writer Function section of this manual.
SCBA Statistics Display
Examples of data displayed in SCBA
statistics windows.
Note: SCBA statistics for each firefighter being monitored
appear in the lower left portion of the SCBA monitoring
window.
1. Pressure
• Displayed graphically for each unit via the cylinder
icon in each box
• The actual pressure reading is displayed as trans-
mitted from the ICM TxR Unit
2. Time Remaining
• The estimated time remaining value is displayed as
calculated by the ICM TxR Unit.
3. Radio Link Status
• The antenna icon at the lower right corner of the
SCBA statistics window indicates that the base sta-
tion/ICM connection is established.
• If the ICM TxR Unit is out of range, the antenna icon
will turn gray and a red X will appear until the ICM
TxR Unit returns within range of the base station.
• When an ICM TxR Unit loses communication with
the base station longer than 1 minute, a timer with
RED text will appear below the time remaining cal-
USING THE ICM TXR ACCOUNTABILITY SOFTWARE
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culation counter. This timer will keep track of the
amount of time, in minutes, that a firefighter has
been out of range and will disappear when the radio
link is re-established.
4. Evacuation status
• The RED and YELLOW arrows and GREEN check
mark display the status of an evacuation signal.
•When an evacuation signal is sent by the base sta-
tion, the “evacuate” or “running man” icon will turn
RED and a black dot will appear next to the RED
arrow.
• When the ICM TxR Unit has received the signal, the
running man icon will turn YELLOW and a black dot
will appear next to the YELLOW arrow.
• When the firefighter manually confirms the evacua-
tion command, the running man icon will turn
GREEN and a black dot will appear next to the
GREEN check mark.
5. Alarms
• If an ICM TxR Unit goes into a motion alarm, manu-
al alarm, temperature alarm, 25% pressure alarm, or
low battery alarm, a window will pop up displaying
this warning.
• These alarms will also appear in the SCBA statistics
window as shown above.
• Thermometer icon – indicates thermal alarm
• Battery icon – indicates low battery warning
• Horizontal man down icon – indicates a PASS
alarm
THE EVACUATION COMMAND
The SCBA monitoring software has the ability to send an
evacuation command to firefighters that are logged on to
the system. This command can only be sent to a fire-
fighter once during a single SCBA monitoring session.
Three Types of Evacuations
1. Evacuate All
a. To evacuate all firefighters logged on to
a base station; click the “Evacuate All”
button in the upper portion of the SCBA monitoring
window.
• When the evacuation signal is sent to all SCBAs,
the “Evacuate All” button will turn RED.
•When each ICM TxR Unit receives the evacuation
command, the PASS device will begin to emit an
audible evacuation alarm, display a flashing run-
ning man icon on the LCD, display alternating
RED/ORANGE LEDs in the NightFighter® Heads-
Up Display System receiver, and the evacuate icon
for that firefighter will turn RED on the PC screen.
• When an ICM TxR Unit successfully receives the
evacuation signal, it automatically returns a signal
to the base station to confirm that the signal has
been received. If the signal is not received, the
base station will continue to send a signal to that
unit until the radio transmission is successful.
• When the base station receives a confirmation sig-
nal from an ICM TxR Unit that the evacuation com-
mand has been received, the Evacuate icon for
each firefighter will turn YELLOW on the PC screen.
b. The firefighter must then manually press the reset
button on the ICM TxR Unit twice in rapid succes-
sion in order to acknowledge the evacuation com-
mand and silence the evacuation alarm.
•As each firefighter manually acknowledges the
evacuation command, the Evacuate icon for each
firefighter will turn GREEN.
• When all firefighters have manually acknowledged
the evacuation command, the “Evacuate all” but-
ton will turn GREEN.
2. Evacuate Team
a. To evacuate a single team of firefighters
logged on to a base station; click the
“Evacuate” button in the team window.
• When the evacuation signal is sent to the entire
team, the “Evacuate” button in the team window
will turn RED.
• When each ICM TxR Unit receives the evacuation
command, the PASS device will begin to emit an
audible evacuation alarm, display a flashing run-
ning man icon on the LCD, display alternating
RED/ORANGE LEDs in the NightFighter receiver,
and the evacuate icon for that firefighter will turn
RED on the PC screen .
• When an ICM TxR Unit successfully receives the
evacuation signal, it automatically returns a signal
to the base station to confirm that the signal has
been received. If the signal is not received, the
base station will continue to send a signal to that
unit until the radio transmission is successful.
• When the base station receives a confirmation
signal from an ICM TxR Unit that the evacuation
command has been received, the Evacuate icon
for each firefighter will turn YELLOW on the PC
screen.
• When the base station has received a confirma-
tion signal from all members of the evacuated
team, the “Evacuate” button in the team window
will turn YELLOW.
b. The firefighter must then manually press the reset
button on the ICM TxR Unit twice in rapid succes-
sion in order to acknowledge the evacuation com-
mand and silence the evacuation alarm.
• As each firefighter manually acknowledges the
evacuation command, the Evacuate icon for each
firefighter will turn GREEN.
• When all firefighters in the evacuated team have
manually acknowledged the evacuation com-
mand, the “Evacuate” button in the team window
will turn GREEN.
3. Evacuate Individual
Note: This function is available by default, but may be
turned off in the settings menu in order to prohibit the
evacuation of a single firefighter.
USING THE ICM TXR ACCOUNTABILITY SOFTWARE
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a. To evacuate a single firefighter logged on to a base
station; click the Evacuate icon located in the
firefighter’s SCBA statistics display window.
• When the evacuation signal is sent to a firefighter,
the Evacuate icon in the firefighter’s SCBA statis-
tics display window will turn RED.
•When the ICM TxR Unit receives the evacuation
command, the PASS device will begin to emit an
audible evacuation alarm, display a flashing run-
ning man icon on the LCD, and display alternating
RED/ORANGE LEDs in the NightFighter receiver.
• When an ICM TxR Unit successfully receives the
evacuation signal, it will automatically return a sig-
nal to the base station to confirm that the signal
has been received. If the signal is not received,
the base station will continue to send a signal to
that unit until the radio transmission is successful.
• When the base station receives a confirmation sig-
nal from the evacuated ICM TxR Unit, the
Evacuate icon for that firefighter will turn YELLOW.
b. The firefighter must then manually press the reset
button on the ICM TxR Unit twice in rapid succes-
sion in order to acknowledge the evacuation com-
mand and silence the evacuation alarm.
• Once the firefighter manually acknowledges the
evacuation command, the Evacuate icon will turn
GREEN.
PAR TIMER
The ICM TxR Accountability Software provides a PAR
(Personnel Accountability Report) Timer to serve as a
reminder when the specified PAR time interval has been
reached during an incident. By default, the PAR time
increment is 15 minutes. This setting can be changed in
the settings menu. Refer to the Configuring the SCBA
Monitoring Settings section of this manual.
Using the PAR Timer
1. Click the “Start” button in the upper right portion of
the SCBA monitoring window.
2. The PAR timer will then begin counting up from 00:00.
3. When the specified PAR time interval has been
reached (every 15 minutes by default), a pop-up alarm
window will be displayed and the PC will emit an audi-
ble tone.
4. The PAR timer will continue and another PAR alarm
will appear and sound when the next PAR time interval
has been reached. For example, default the PAR
alarm will occur at 15, 30, 45…..minutes.
LOSS OF RADIO COMMUNICATION
If a firefighter travels out of the range of radio transmis-
sion, the PC software will display several indications that
the radio link has been lost. These indications are
described below. When a firefighter is out of range, any
signals sent from ICM TxR Unit to the base station, or
from the base station to the ICM TxR Unit, cannot be real-
ized until the radio link has been re-established. Both the
ICM TxR Unit and the base station will repeatedly send a
signal until the link has been regained.
Note: A loss of radio communication may occur when a
firefighter is in an area of a structure that is not conducive
to proper radio transmission. Structures that are under-
ground or constructed of thick concrete and metal are not
conducive to good radio signal transmission. Areas
where traditional two way radio communication is difficult
may induce a temporary loss of radio contact between
the ICM TxR Unit and the base station.
Indications that a firefighter has lost radio communi-
cation with the base station
• The antenna icon in the firefighter’s SCBA statis-
tics window will turn gray and a RED X will
appear over the icon.
• A gray antenna icon with a RED X over it will
appear next to the helmet icon for any firefight-
er that has lost radio communication.
• In the SCBA statistics display window, directly below
the service time remaining display, a red text counter
will appear when a firefighter is out of range of radio
contact. This counter will continue to count the num-
ber of minute that a firefighter has been out of radio
contact with the base station. The counter will disap-
pear when the radio link has been regained.
• On the ICM TxR Unit, the radio link indicator (antenna
icon) in the upper right portion of the LCD will begin to
flash when the unit has lost radio communication.
USING MULTIPLE BASE STATIONS
Two Base Stations on a Single PC
A single base station can monitor up to 50 firefighters at
one time. If there is a need to monitor more than 50 fire-
fighters at one time, an additional base station may be
attached to the same PC to allow up to 100 firefighters to
be monitored.
As the number of firefighters approaches 50 on a
given base station, MSA recommends that the PC at
least meet the optimum PC system requirements rec-
ommended in this manual. Failure to do so may cause
the PC to loose its ability to effectively monitor all of
the firefighters at the incident. It is up to the user to
determine whether or not the PC being used is capa-
USING THE ICM TXR ACCOUNTABILITY SOFTWARE
12
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ble of handling the appropriate number of firefighters
at one time.
Two Base Stations and Two PCs in Use at the Same
Incident
When two PCs are monitoring firefighters at the same
incident, base station ID Tags must be used to assign an
ICM TxR to a specific base station. For instructions on
programming base station ID tags, refer to the Using the
ID Tag Writer Function section of this manual. Base sta-
tion IDs should be assigned to the ICM TxR Units prior to
the incident.
Note: The user must determine if multiple PCs will be
used to monitor firefighters within the range of the base
station. If base station IDs are not assigned using base
station ID Tags, there is no way to control which base sta-
tion the ICM TxR Unit will log on to. ICM TxR Units will
log on to the first base station found unless base station
IDs are used. By using base station ID Tags to assign a
base station ID to an ICM TxR Unit, the ICM TxR Unit will
search for the preferred base station for the first 20 sec-
onds after the SCBA has been pressurized. If the ICM
TxR Unit does not find the preferred base station within
the first 20 seconds, it will then search for the first avail-
able base station and log on to that system. Once an
ICM TxR Unit has been logged on to a base station, it can
not be monitored by another base station until the ICM
TxR Unit has been turned off and on again. It is not pos-
sible for two PCs to monitor the same firefighter or team.
INCIDENT REPORT GENERATION
The ICM TxR Accountability Software automatically cre-
ates an incident report log for each SCBA
monitoring session. Incident reports may
be accessed in the main screen of the
MSA ICM TxR Accountability software by
selecting INCIDENT, SCBA MONITORING,
INCIDENT REPORTS. To access incident reports while
the SCBA monitoring window is open, click the “Incident
Report” button at the top of the SCBA monitoring win-
dow.
The Incident Window (during SCBA monitoring):
Before an SCBA monitoring session has ended, details of
the incident may be entered to improve search ability of
report files at a later date. DETAILS OF AN INCIDENT
MUST BE ENTERED BEFORE CLOSING THE SCBA
MONITORING WINDOW. If details are not entered at this
time, reports can still be searched and viewed at a later
date, but information such as Incident number, Dispatch
number, Incident name, Address, and Comments will not
be available.
Assigning details to an incident report (during SCBA
monitoring):
1. Incident number: The incident number allows incident
reports to be sorted by incident number. Only num-
bers can be entered (10 character maximum). Choose
a number that provides some detail about the event.
For example, for the first incident to occur on October
24, 2006, enter 102406001. Here, 10 represents the
month, 24 represents the day, 06 represents the year,
and 001 represents the first incident to occur on that
day. It is up to the incident commander to determine
what protocol works best for each department.
2. All of the remaining fields allow for additional data
entry. A maximum of 50 characters may be entered
for Incident name, Street, and City. A maximum of 10
characters may be entered for zip code. The com-
ments field allows for an unlimited number of charac-
ters to be entered.
USING THE ICM TXR ACCOUNTABILITY SOFTWARE
13 TAL 605 (L) Rev. 0 - 10068929

3. When all data has been entered, click the SAVE
icon to assign the details.
Reviewing details of the current incident report (during
SCBA monitoring):
Note: To view and export report files using the MSA
Accountability software, a printer must be installed on the
PC. The printer does not have to be connected to view
reports but at least one (1) must be installed in the PC’s
registry.
1. Click the “incident report” button while in the SCBA
monitoring window.
2. Click the printer icon.
3. The “print out” window will appear.
4. Select one (1) of the four (4) options to determine how
the report will be sorted.
Retrieving Incident reports (after an incident has
ended):
1. Select Incident, SCBA monitoring, Incident reports in
the main screen of the MSA ICM TxR Accountability
Software.
2. The incident window will appear.
3. To view all reports available, DOUBLE click the open
icon , to bring up the “print out” window.
a. To search or sort all of the available reports, click
the open icon , ONCE.
b. All fields in the incident will highlight, accepting text
entry.
c. Enter search criteria in the field in which the reports
should be sorted by. For example, to search for a
specific incident number, enter that number in the
“Incident number” field.
d. Once the search text has been entered, Click the
open icon , ONCE more to bring up the “print
out” window.
Note: If no reports can be found that meet the search cri-
teria, all reports will be blank. If this occurs, return to the
incident window and enter new search criteria or simply
view all available reports by DOUBLE clicking the open
icon.
The Print out window
4. Select one (1) of the four (4) options to determine how
the report will be sorted by either DOUBLE clicking the
type of report or by SINGLE clicking the type of report
and then clicking Preview. The options are as follows:
a.Sorted by name: Displays all reports meeting the
search criteria, sorted by each firefighter’s name in
alphabetical order. Under each Firefighter’s name is
a list of all incidents participated in.
b. Sorted by ICM TxR: Displays all reports meeting
the search criteria, sorted by the ICM TxR Unit seri-
al number in ascending order. Details for firefighters
without telemetry cannot be viewed under this
report option.
c. Sorted by incident number: Displays all reports
meeting the search criteria, sorted by the incident
number in descending order. All reports with an
incident number are displayed first, then any inci-
dent reports that do not have an incident number
assigned are displayed based on date/time with
most recent being first.
d. Sorted by date/time: Displays all reports meeting
the search criteria, sorted by date/time with most
recent being first.
5. Other options of the print out window include:
a. “Settings”: Controls printing options. Select
Settings before printing any of the reports to specify
printer destination, number of copies, and other
printing properties.
b. “Preview”: To preview a report before printing,
click the report option ONCE and then select
“Preview”. The report can also be viewed by simply
DOUBLE clicking the report option.
c. “Print out”: Each report can be printed directly
from the “Print out” window without viewing the
report by clicking the report option ONCE and then
selecting “Print out”.
Example incident report, sorted by incident number
USING THE ICM TXR ACCOUNTABILITY SOFTWARE
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6. To print the report, click the print icon at the top
of the incident report window.
7. To save the report in an alternate format, click the
export icon.
a. The “Export” window will appear. Select the
desired file format by selecting one of the options
under the field labeled “Format”. Formats available
for export are .pdf, .rpt, .html, .xls, .rtf, .odbc, .rec,
.txt, .csv, .ttx, and .xml. Click OK when finished.
b. The “Export Options” window will appear. Select
the pages of the report to be exported and click
OK.
c. The “Choose export file” window will appear.
Select the name and directory to which the report
should be saved.
USING THE ICM TXR ACCOUNTABILITY SOFTWARE
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NOTES
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ACCOUNTABILITY OF FIREFIGHTERS WITHOUT TELEMETRY
ACCOUNTABILITY OF FIREFIGHTERS WITHOUT
TELEMETRY
The base station PC software allows for accountability of
firefighters or other personnel that do not have ICM TxR
Units installed on their SCBA. The software allows for
helmet icons to be created representing these firefighters
or personnel. These helmet icons can then be moved into
teams just like firefighters with ICM TxR Units.
There cannot be any radio communication between the
base station and firefighters without ICM TxR Units
installed on their SCBA, but this allows for such personnel
to be accounted for. The software can simulate the
breathing rate for a variety of cylinder types to help the
user of the PC software keep track of these firefighters’
estimated time remaining.
Accountability of Firefighters without Telemetry
1. Click the “New Person” button on the SCBA monitor-
ing window.
2. A window will appear.
3. Enter the name to be associated with this person in
the “Name” field.
4. Select the appropriate cylinder type and simulated air
usage rate.
a. Click the arrow at the far right side of the “Cylinder
Type” field.
b. A new window will appear with a list of default
cylinder pressures and pressure decay rates.
c. Refer to the Configuring SCBA Monitoring Settings
section of this manual for additional information on
cylinder types and pressure decay rates.
5. Enter the starting pressure for the SCBA in the “Actual
Pressure” field. The “1 2 3 …” button allows PCs with
touch screen capability to enter a pressure value with-
out using a keyboard.
6. Clicking “OK” will create a helmet icon for this fire-
fighter. Notice that the helmet icon has a black box
on it. This indicates that the simulated breathing for
this firefighter has not been started.
7. To START to simulate breathing for this firefighter, click
the GREEN “PLAY” icon in the firefighter’s SCBA sta-
tistics window. Notice that the black box on the hel-
met icon becomes a black triangle. When the GREEN
arrow has been clicked, the starting pressure value will
be written to the incident report.
8. The pressure value can be updated or changed manu-
ally by double clicking the text field titled “PSI” (These
pressure changes will not be recorded in the incident
report file).
9. To STOP simulated breathing for a firefighter without
telemetry, click the BLUE “PAUSE” icon in the fire-
fighter’s SCBA statistics window. When the “pause”
icon has been clicked, the current simulated PSI value
will be written to the incident report.
10. When the firefighter’s simulated cylinder pressure
reaches the low pressure alarm point, a pop-up alarm
window will appear.
The simulation is an estimate and not actual time or
pressure. Failure to follow this warning can result in
serious personal injury or death.
Removing firefighters or other personnel from the
SCBA monitoring software
1. To remove a manually created firefighter from the
SCBA monitoring window, double left click or right
click the appropriate helmet icon.
2. A menu will appear. Select “remove person”. This will
remove the icon from the SCBA monitoring window.
Note: The “remove person” feature can only be used to
remove icons corresponding to firefighters without
telemetry. This feature will not remove firefighters with
ICM TxR Units installed unless the ICM TxR Unit has lost
radio contact with the base station.
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NOTES
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ID TAG WRITER FUNCTION
The MSA ICM TxR Accountability Software can also be
used to program ID Tags for each ICM TxR Unit.
Three types of data that can be stored on an ID Tag:
Name, Team and Special (base station ID)
Note: Only one data type per ID Tag can be stored.
The name ID is used to assign a firefighter name to an
ICM TxR Unit. The name ID Tag must be scanned into
the ICM TxR Unit at the start of each shift (every 24 hours
by default). The ICM Link program can be used to
change this default to allow a name ID to be permanently
assigned to the ICM TxR Unit until a new name ID tag has
been scanned. If a team ID tag has been scanned into
the ICM TxR Unit but a name ID tag has not been
scanned, the team ID will be displayed on the SCBA mon-
itoring software to provide accountability even if the fire-
fighter has forgotten to scan the name ID tag. If a team
ID has not been assigned to the ICM TxR Unit, the ICM
TxR Unit’s serial number will be displayed a the firefight-
er’s ID when logged on to the base station.
The team ID is used to assign a permanent team name
and seat position to an ICM TxR Unit. When a team
name has been assigned to an ICM TxR Unit, it will auto-
matically create this team on the PC software and move
that firefighter into the specified team and team position.
Once a team ID tag has been scanned into an ICM TxR
Unit, this team ID will remain with the ICM TxR Unit until
another team ID tag has been scanned.
The Special ID is used to assign a specific base station ID
to an ICM TxR Unit. When more than one (1) base station
is present and actively monitoring at an incident, an ICM
TxR Unit with an assigned base station will search for the
preferred base station first to log on to, and if it does not
find the assigned base station within 20 seconds, it will
search for the first available base station and log on to it.
Once a base station ID tag has been scanned into and
ICM TxR Unit, this base station ID will remain with the
ICM TxR Unit until another base station ID tag has been
scanned (a base station of 00000000, eight (8) zeros can
be scanned into the ICM to remove the base station pref-
erence).
The SCBA monitoring window must be closed before
the tag writer portion of the software can be used.
Failure to close this window may cause the ID Tag
Writer to not respond and may prevent the use of the
Tag Writer feature until the SCBA monitoring window
has been closed.
The ICM Tx / TxR Unit Data Program software must
not be running while the base station software is run-
ning on the same PC. If both programs are open, the
PC may not properly communicate with the base sta-
tion or ICM Tx Reader / ID Tag Writer.
Programming and Reading ID Tags
1. Connect the ICM Tag writer to an open USB port on
the PC.
2. Click INCIDENT, SCBA MONITORING, TAG WRITER in
the main screen of the base station software to launch
the Tag Writer interface window. The following window
will appear:
Programming Name ID Tags:
1. Click the circle next to “Name”.
2. Enter the name or ID in the white text field. The name
ID can be up to 18 characters in length.
3. Insert an ID tag into the open slot on the front of the
ICM Tag Writer.
4. Click the “Write” button.
5. A small dialog box will appear to confirm that the data
was programmed successfully.
Note: By default, the name ID will remain in the ICM TxR
Unit for 24 hours before expiring. This setting can be
changed to allow the name ID to remain until a new name
ID has been entered. To change this setting, the ICM Tx
Unit Data Program software must be used. Refer to the
ICM Tx Unit Data Program software instructions (P/N
10067066) for additional instructions.
Programming Team/Seat Position ID Tags
1. Click the circle next to “Team”.
2. Enter the Team/Position ID in the white text field. To
assign a seat position in addition to the team ID, type
the team ID first, then type “/” and type a position
number (1 through 6). The Team ID can be a maxi-
mum of ten (10) characters if a seat position is not
specified. The Team ID can be a maximum of eight
characters if a seat position is specified as the “/#”
takes up the additional two characters.
For example, to enter a team ID of “Truck 1, Seat 2”,
type “Truck1/2”. This will display as “Truck1/2” as the
firefighter’s team ID during SCBA monitoring. Since
only eight (8) characters will be displayed during
19 TAL 605 (L) Rev. 0 - 10068929

ID TAG WRITER FUNCTION
SCBA monitoring, an entry of “Truck_1_/2” (where _
represents a space) will display as “Truck 1” and the
position number will be hidden.
3. Insert an ID tag into the open slot on the front of the
ICM Tag Writer.
4. Click the “Write” button.
5. A small dialog box will appear to confirm that the data
was programmed successfully.
Note: The Team/Position ID will remain in the ICM TxR
Unit until a new Team/Position ID has been entered.
Programming Base Station ID Tags
1. Click the circle next to “Special”
2. Click the circle next to “Base station”.
3. Locate the serial number for the base station to be
associated with this ID Tag. The serial number is the
eight (8) digit number located on the bottom of the
base station. The base station serial number is also
displayed at the top of the SCBA monitoring window
of the MSA ICM TxR Accountability Software.
4. Type the base station serial number in the white text-
entry box.
5. Insert an ID tag into the open slot on the front of the
ICM Tag Writer.
6. Click the “Write” button.
7. A small dialog box should appear to confirm that the
data was programmed successfully.
Note: The base station ID will remain in the ICM TxR Unit
until a new base station ID has been entered.
Note: To remove a base station preference from an ICM
TxR Unit, a base station ID Tag containing “00000000” (8
zeros) must be created and scanned into the ICM TxR
Unit.
For additional information, refer to the ICM TxR Unit and
NightFighter Heads-Up Display System operation and
maintenance instructions (P/N 10068930).
20
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