Survivair, a unit of Sperian Fire, is a leading manufacturer of world-class respiratory protection equipment, protecting firefighters and offering respiratory protection from airborne workplace hazards since 1961. For almost five decades, Survivair has manufactured air purifying respirators (APR), supplied air respirators (SAR), powered air purifying respirators (PAPR) and self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA).

In 1997, Survivair was acquired by Sperian Protection, a leader in the design, manufacturing and sale of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Known as the Bacou-Dalloz Group prior to November, 2007, the company employs about 6,700 people and operates 48 production facilities. Sperian Protection offers a full product range aimed at the manufacturing, construction, telecommunications, medical, public services and other sectors. Its products are available from its distributor partners worldwide.

In order to seamlessly integrate the Pathfinder™ firefighter locator system into a firefighter’s Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA), strategic partnerships with the SCBA manufacturers was necessary. In April of 2004, Summit Safety concluded an agreement with Survivair to develop and market an air-integrated system. Under the terms of the agreement, Survivair was granted three years and nine months of exclusive rights to distribute and sell Pathfinder systems to firefighters, emergency medical responders, police and related personnel throughout the world.

In January of 2008, Summit Safety announced that the exclusivity period of the Survivair agreement had ended. A non-exclusive agreement was put in place to continue the distribution and further development of the Pathfinder system on the Survivair SCBA platform. At the April, 2008, Fire Department Instructor’s Conference (FDIC), Summit Safety debuted the next integration of the Pathfinder system, this time on the ISI SCBA and Thermal Imaging Camera (TIC) platforms.