Difference between revisions of "Structural Firefighting Gear Decon (OPS)"

Revision as of 13:09, 4 April 2017

Section 1 - ADMINISTRATIVE

130.14 Structural Firefighting Gear Decon

PURPOSE:

Cancer is one of the leading causes of occupational illness in the fire service. The purpose of this document is to provide a guideline for personnel decontamination and the decontamination of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and firefighting equipment to reduce the risk of exposure to cancer-causing or hazardous agents. Each member is expected to know, understand and follow this guideline.

RESPONSIBILITY

• All officers are responsible to train firefighting personnel and ensure proper compliance with this guideline.
• All members have the responsibility to adequately learn this guideline.
• It is the responsibility of the designated Officer to ensure that any necessary and appropriate type of decontamination of firefighters, PPE and equipment be completed before personnel and

equipment return to service. This is agency specific as the responsibility may be tasked to a Safety Officer, Battalion Chief, etc.…

DECONTAMINATION GUIDELINES

• Degree of Contamination:
  • “Exposure to hazardous substance” is the key to decontamination needs. Products of combustion including smoke are considered hazardous. If firefighters enter an IDLH environment and / or

come into contact with burned materials or runoff from suppression agents, they should be evaluated for decontamination. These include, but are not limited to personnel, uniforms, PPE, SCBA, and equipment.

• • • Training fires in accordance to NFPA 1403 should be evaluated to determine Degree of Contamination from products of combustion. The evaluation should identify if and what degree decontamination of personnel, uniforms, PPE, SCBA, and equipment will take place.
• Decontamination:

Decontamination should take place at the scene (primary) and at the fire station (secondary). There are several different methods of decontamination that can take place at the scene, depending on the type of incident. These can range from brushing off contaminants with a whisk type broom to complete rinsing of PPE with a hose line. It is the responsibility of the designated Officer to determine what level of decontamination takes place.