July 2007

 

Tool Time

by Raul A Angulo

Where Do You Hang Your Turnout Gear

Some of us get jealous when we walk into someone’s garage and notice all the tools are hung up on peg boards and everything is well organized and in its place. Some of us have organized chaos, but we know where every tool is buried.

In the fire service, our tools include personal protective equipment (PPE), also known as turnout gear, bunking gear, or bunkers. They are specialized garments, but they are tools. We can’t do our jobs without them, and they need to be properly stored in a state of readiness, just like the tools in a meticulous craftsman’s workshop. But there’s more to that than you think.

When I came into the fire department in 1978, my first bunking coat was made of sturdy canvas. Some fire departments, until recently, were still using rubber coats.

Proper Care

Now, PPE is made of various high-tech fabrics that protect the firefighters from high heat and flame while still allowing the internal moisture to vent out through the interior liners.

Along with those fancy materials came some specialized instructions for proper care, cleaning and maintenance.

My fire department, Seattle, recently purchased new PPE for every firefighter. One of the first problems that arose was the manufacturer’s recommendation that the gear could not be stored in direct or indirect sunlight. It was further recommended they not be stored under the fluorescent lights of the apparatus bay as well.

Our fire stations look like every other fire station in the U.S. Fire boots, coats, and helmets line the walls of the apparatus bay like soldiers standing at attention – but suddenly we had to do something different because of the exposure to light.

The problem was finally solved with a simple fix – heavy-duty black plastic curtains. It doesn’t look pretty, but we lacked the floor space and budget to construct special “dark room” closets with proper ventilation systems. Not the best solution, but it fit the need.

Fire departments should heed warning labels attached to safety equipment. Ignoring the manufacturer’s recommendations may void the warranty of the garments, so you better check it out.

Storing the PPE on the apparatus also became a problem. Firefighters tried storing pants, boots, and coats in the apparatus compartments to shield them from direct and indirect sunlight, however many of the apparatus are so packed with equipment already that the compartments could not accommodate the bulky gear, which sometimes prevented compartment doors from closing securely.

The units that managed to store them in the compartments soon encountered a new problem. Besides being known for having an excellent fire department, Seattle is also known for its rain. Hence, wet gear wasn’t drying out.

Precious Seconds

If members wore their gear throughout their shift in the rain, at shift change, it went from the compartments to hanging behind the black plastic curtains on the apparatus bay. No light, no ventilation. Combine the wet gear with body perspiration, and after a while you can imagine some of the gear started smelling pretty ripe. Who wants to come to work and have to wear that? Not me.

Response times were also being affected by the need to properly store gear. Keep in mind that every second truly does count in the fire service today. Household furnishings are primarily made of plastics and synthetics that burn faster and hotter than natural products, producing deadly black smoke. Couple that with lightweight construction, and the window to flashover and collapse is much smaller than it was 30 years ago.

Think about how many precious seconds are used opening compartments, removing the PPE, fixing the boots and pants so you can actually put them on, unfolding the coat to put that on, bending over to pick up any equipment off the floor that accidentally fell out of the compartment while you were pulling out your gear, then closing the compartment door.

Plus, you still have to buckle up your seatbelt before the rig can even head out the door. It may not seem like a big deal, but it’s another thing we have to do before we can respond. To make a viable rescue and save lives, time is of the essence. We simply have to hang our gear on the apparatus in a state of readiness to save every second possible.

Contamination is a huge safety issue we need to be concerned about. Think about all the times you’ve reported for duty, put your gear on the rig and were greeted by the familiar smell of fire still lingering in the cab. It makes me smile because that means the previous shift had a job and, soon the off-going shift will be bragging and telling you what you missed last night.

But those odors aren’t harmless; they smell like that for a reason. The National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) 1500 Fire Department Occupational Safety and Health Program (2007 Edition) states in Chapter 9.1.7: “Any components of the projective ensemble that are contaminated shall not be allowed in sleeping or living areas.”

Contamination

Think about that. If our gear should not be allowed in the living and sleeping areas of the firehouse because it’s contaminated, maybe it shouldn’t be allowed in the cab of the apparatus.

A 2006 British Broadcasting Company (BBC) news report titled “Firefighter Cancer Risk ‘Higher’” states: “Firefighters are at a far higher risk of developing certain cancers than people in many other professions, U.S. research suggests.”

Well we don’t need the British to tell us that. A University of Cincinnati (U of C) research team said exposure to substances such as benzene, chloroform, and soot posed a threat to firefighters. The researchers, according to The Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, suggested that rates of testicular cancer were 100 percent higher and prostate cancer 28 percent higher among firefighters, based on an analysis of 32 U.S. and European studies covering 110,000 firefighters and comparing them to the cancer rates of other professionals and the general population.

Other areas of the body where firefighters seem more at risk to develop cancers include the bladder, brain, colon, lymphatic system, kidneys, pancreas, skin, rectum and lungs.

The smoke of today is deadly and contains many compounds designated as carcinogens or suspected cancer-causing agents. In addition to benzene and chloroform, smoke and soot can contain styrene, formaldehyde, polyvinyl chloride, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen chloride, phosgene, nitrogen oxides and aldehyde particulates, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

These are not the condiments you want to be pouring onto your pancakes. These compounds can be inhaled or absorbed through the skin at the scene of a fire. Even short-term exposure to these products can cause acute and chronic health problems.

Dr. Grace LeMasters, who led the research at U of C, said, “Firefighters protective equipment is heavy, cumbersome and uncomfortable to wear and they don’t like it, so as soon as they come out of the fire, they take it off. But there’s a lot of soot and chemicals in there which they are being exposed to.”

Very Scary Stuff

Dr. James Lockey, professor of Environmental Health and Pulmonary Medicine at U of C also worked on the research and said: “There’s a critical and immediate need for additional protective equipment to help firefighters avoid inhalation and skin exposures to known and suspected occupational carcinogens. In addition, firefighters should meticulously wash their entire body to remove soot and other residues from fires to avoid skin exposure.”

Additionally, NFPA 1500 recommends PPE be washed at least once every 6 months.

Very scary stuff. It seems about the only safe thing to do to avoid exposure is to stay home.

At some point, safety standards, warning labels and medical studies become so ridiculous that they make it virtually impossible for us to do our job without risks. The fact is firefighting is inherently dangerous. We all know it is not without risks.

What we need to do is be as educated as possible about hazardous exposures and avoid needless exposures.

We need to wear all our PPE including SCBA, but there is no escaping the fact that we will be exposed to dangerous environments and will face a higher exposure to cancer-causing agents throughout our career.

Here are some things we’ve got to do to reduce risks.

First, let’s use common sense. The great natural neutralizers are water and air. We need to wash our gear after every fire. We don’t necessarily need to run them through the washer and dryer, but we should dust off and hose off debris after a fire before we remove our SCBA face piece.

Apparatus drivers can hook up a small diameter hose line and spray firefighters off as they exit the fire building. Then we need to hang our gear on the apparatus to let it dry out and air out.

Apparatus chassis specifications need to include handles from which turnout coats can be hung. Many modern handles are ergonomically designed and are also one-piece units, which help keep costs down. However, they cannot accommodate hanging gear.

If your apparatus has such handles, firefighters will undoubtedly hang their coats from the window crank.

These coats are not light, especially when they are wet. Add the weight of pocket tools and the window crank handle usually breaks off. It isn’t designed for this type of weight.

If this sounds like your fire department, here are a couple of easy solutions. Teach your firefighters to hang their coats from the Nader bolt – named after Ralph Nader. This is a substantial, low profile bolt that can easily accommodate the heaviest of bunking gear. Wherever you can find a place, contaminated PPE needs a place to dry and air out.

Some apparatus have a handle just inside the door. Use a strong zip tie to attach a quick release hook. This allows for proper weight distribution and keeps the fire coat close to the cab for easy donning.

Finally, when designing a new rig, insist on door handles with 90-degree end brackets and a tubular bar insert. These are 3-piece units that may add a slight cost to the apparatus, but they pay big dividends in the safety of firefighters. Some may argue that firefighters get “hung up” on these types of brackets when exiting the cab. I say, if a firefighter gets hung up while exiting the cab of a fire apparatus, the last place he should be is on the fireground. He needs to be behind a desk.

Sunlight or no sunlight, fire gear will eventually break down and wear out. When that happens, the fire department needs to replace the member’s gear. If our people are our most valuable resource, then let’s protect them. Replace PPE when it wears out.

Finally, time is of the essence when it comes to rescue and saving lives. We have enough obstacles in front of us like weather and traffic conditions and access problems.

We don’t need any more things to slow us up. Position your boots and hang your gear close to the cab in a state of readiness, as a craftsman has his tools. These are the first tools you need to stay alive and save a life.

(I want to thank Fire Apparatus And Emergency Equipment Magazine for giving me the opportunity and privilege to share my experience and expertise with the people I respect and admire the most, firefighters. Tools are more than just nozzles, axes, and pry bars; they can be anything that helps you accomplish the task at hand. A tool can even be a mental–problem solving matrix to help you come up with a solution. With every column, I will share some thought process, cover tools on the apparatus, including the apparatus, or methods in helping you provide quality EMS or tactics to fight fires safely, efficiently and effectively.)

 

Editor’s Note: Raul A. Angulo is a 27-year veteran of the Seattle Fire Department and captain of Ladder Company 6. He is on the Educational Advisory Board for the Fire Department Instructors Conference and is on the Board of Directors for the Fellowship of Christian Firefighters. He lectures on fire service leadership, company officer development and fireground strategy and accountability throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

The Nader bolt, found on the doorframes of all apparatus, makes a convenient place to hang turnout gear. The bolts are beefy and more than capable of handling the weight of even the heaviest coats with pockets loaded with tools.

Three-piece grab handles, like those found on the cab and pump panels of many apparatus, are conveniently located and can have a point upon which gear can be hung.

Firefighters often hang turnout gear on window crank handles, which isn’t a great idea as they were never designed to hold the weight of a coat, never mind when it’s wet. More often then not, the handles break off.