Emergency Escape Breathing Device (EEBD)

What sets an EEBD apart from SCBA

A self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) is duty equipment for a fire party or entry team: it is donned before entering a hazardous space, refilled after use, and rated for real work under load. An Emergency Escape Breathing Device (EEBD) is the opposite case - it is stored where crew already are, at their workstation or cabin, and only comes out when the space they are standing in has already filled with smoke or toxic gas and they need to walk out of it. It is not rated for firefighting, entry work, or rescue of another person; its whole job is a single exit under a hood, one person, one trip, then discarded or sent for recharge.

Main components

Cylinder and regulator

A small compressed-air or compressed-oxygen cylinder, typically good for 10 to 15 minutes at rated flow, feeds a demand or constant-flow regulator. Constant-flow units are simpler and more common at sea because there is nothing for a panicking user to get wrong.

Hood and neck seal

A clear, flame-resistant hood covers the whole head and seals at the neck with an elastic or adjustable collar, so the wearer keeps their own eyesight and does not need a fitted mask seal - useful for crew who normally wear glasses or have facial hair.

Carrying case

A sealed bag or hard case with a tamper-evident indicator, mounted in a bracket at the point of use: engine control room, galley, cabin alleyway, steering gear flat.

Selecting the right unit

Sizing an EEBD comes down to duration and gas type rather than flow capacity, since the wearer is walking, not working:

• Duration - 10-minute units suit short, well-known escape routes; 15-minute units are the safer default where the route to open deck is longer or less direct.
• Air vs. oxygen - compressed-air sets are lighter and need no chemical generation; oxygen sets (chemical or compressed) give longer duration for the same bulk but need different storage and service handling.
• Hood size - a single hood size should fit the full range of crew face shapes; test this at issue, not after an incident.

Regulations and class requirements

SOLAS Ch. II-2 sets the carriage requirement: EEBDs are required in machinery spaces, with at least one per normally attended location and enough units for the crew who could be trapped there, and on passenger ships in additional locations set out in the fire safety systems code. Class surveys check that units are within their service or expiry date, that the tamper seal is intact, and that the bracket location matches the fire control plan. Expired or discharged units get replaced, not serviced back into date on board.

Typical faults

• Broken tamper seal with no log entry - someone has opened or tested the case; the unit must be treated as used and replaced.
• Cylinder pressure below the gauge's green band - a slow leak past the valve seat means the set will run short on duration exactly when it is needed.
• Hood perished or brittle - UV and heat exposure near funnel casings or in engine rooms degrade the plastic faster than the labelled shelf life assumes.
• Bracket location blocked by stores or cabling - a common finding on older ships where the space was re-used after the fire control plan was drawn.

What to look for in a supplier

• Type approval matching the flag state and the fire safety systems code, not just a general CE marking.
• Clear service life and expiry marking on the cylinder itself, not only on the outer case.
• Available spares and exchange cylinders through a port the vessel actually calls at.
• Documented hood material flame resistance, since this is the item most likely to degrade unseen.

Treat 'opened for training' the same as 'used' - log it and swap the unit, because a half-discharged cylinder that looks full on a cursory glance is worse than an obviously empty one.