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Flashpoint blog
The great bunker gear debate |
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Written by Peter Sells
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Dec. 8, 2009
On Sunday I was doing Dad's Taxi duty, waiting in a North
York, Ont., shopping centre parking lot while my daughter attended one of her
lessons. I don't mind these duties a few times a week for piano, theatre, choir
or the track club. There is often a coffee shop or some other place with a WiFi
hotspot, or I can use the time to grab a burger, get some work done on the
computer or just read the newspaper. So I sat in my car with the weekend paper.
I saw a fire apparatus parked on the other side of the lot and noted that it was
parked out of the way of the lot's traffic flow.
Not only is this practice
considerate of the shopping centre's patrons, it usually is easier for the
apparatus driver to manoeuvre in and out of the lot.
I figured that a couple of
firefighters were getting some groceries for the day and, sure enough, a few
minutes later two of them emerged with a few bags and walked across the lot
back to the truck. I got a strange sense of déjà vu, which I figured was
because a day or so earlier I had witnessed an essentially identical scene in
an essentially identical parking lot in Mississauga. I thought nothing of it
and went back to the newspaper.
In the paper there was a
very good photo of three firefighters in bunker gear and on air, using a
testing kit at what turned out to be a small meth lab in a private residence.
Their gear and SCBA were necessary to protect them from exposure to the
chemicals they were testing. That's when the déjà vu kicked back in.
We are issued bunker gear
to protect ourselves at fires and other emergency situations. The gear we have
today is very, very good for protection from heat, smoke, toxins,
chemical/blood splashes and sharp or jagged objects. We have comprehensive
maintenance programs to keep our bunker gear clean and keep ourselves as
healthy as possible. Part of that process is to leave bunker gear on the
apparatus floor. We have SOPs that tell us not to bring bunker gear into the
kitchen or dorm of the fire hall and not into office or classroom areas of our
training centres. All of this is compliant with NFPA 1851 Standard on
Selection, Care, and Maintenance of Protective Ensembles for Structural Fire
Fighting and Proximity Fire Fighting, which says in part:
Although
great emphasis is placed on safety to avoid injury or inhalation hazards while
working on the fire ground, many of the toxins which lead to health risks are
being carried away from the fire scene on personal protective equipment used by
the fire fighter.
So why, then, in both
instances I cited, was one of the firefighters wearing a bunker jacket as he
shopped - not the whole ensemble, just a bunker jacket against the December
chill, walking through a grocery store with gear we are not permitted to wear
in the living areas of our own facilities; items we know to be carrying toxins,
paraded through the produce, dairy, meat and bakery sections.
If it is not a healthy
practice to wear bunker gear in the fire hall then how can it be OK to wear bunker
gear in a grocery store? Sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. So please
register your opinion with one of the following choices:
- Our SOPs say we are not supposed to wear
bunker gear in the hall; they don't say anything about grocery stores.
- Our SOPs should reflect respect for the health
and safety of the public as well as our own.
- Common sense should have prevailed and those
firefighters should have known better.
Thanks
for reading Flashpoint and this blog in 2009. Stay safe and have a Happy New
Year!
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Peter Sells
Written by Peter Sells on 2009-12-09 18:29:29
Mark, it seems you answered your own concern. If it is not considered proper to wear bunker gear, even if freshly cleaned, in the dorms at night, then it is not acceptable in the public circumstances I described. I am not suggesting any reactionary quarantine, just a simple set of sensible rules that are compliant with industry standards, workable within the requirements of our duties, and followed consistently. Hang your gear in a consistent and appropriate area out of the living areas of the hall, either on the apparatus floor or adjacent to it if possible. "Where do you stop with this?" Somewhere between your pelican case scenario and wearing bunker gear to bed or while shopping in a grocery store. I'm not asking for anything more stringent than we already have, just that existing guidelines be followed. | mark
Written by mark on 2009-12-09 17:52:28
Since we've only got 3 choices I'd have to say "Our sop's should reflect respect for the health and safety of the public as well as our own"....BUT, those same sop's should consider that the gear is washed and maintained as required in the same standard. Where do you stop with this? I also agree that if a crew is out on a grocery run, then station wear "if they've got it" should be worn, but by the same token, the gear should be clean to begin with. Sure if a crew just came back from a call and their gear is filthy, dropping crud then obviously. But, if the gear is clean washed and dried after the last dirty one, then it's not likely to be any more "contaminating" than the coveralls the mechanic wears, or anyone else that comes in while they're at work. This debate can and will drag on, but the basics are (to me) if the crew properly maintains their gear, then they shouldn't be out on a toxin release program! What about the nurse that stops in on her way home still wearing her uniform?
We used to be able to bring our turnout pants into the dorms at night, until someone asked " what are we exposing ourselves to?" so that ended that....Doesn't matter if it just came back from a "manufacturer compliant" cleaning or not! Doesn't matter, if we listen to all the complaints from our own guys, we'll be eventually storing our gear in pelican cases so they don't off gas the "mild detergent" used to clean them....Where does this stop! | John Lewis
Written by John Lewis on 2009-12-09 17:41:07
Well said. The whole issue of when to wear bunker gear has been questioned lately. It costs so much that ideally it should be reserved for interior fire fighting and MVA only (it's unsuitable for wildland fires, unnecessary for incipient outdoor fires, of no value for hazmat, confined spaces and medical calls). Of course we can argue exceptions, but most calls might be better responded to in coveralls - high quality, probably Nomex, custom fitted for equipment. Hi Peter: I trust all is well. Enjoy the holidays/John |
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