Masks on or off in the truck?

On a structure fire call, my captain told me to have my mask on but not on air when I get out of the truck. Of course I will follow his directions, but I was wondering if it's better to mask up before making entry. On some calls, captains got off the truck with their mask on, and their inital size up to dispatch was really difficult to understand, their mask was all foggy, and it's hard to understand their directions. That's just my opinion...brothers and sisters, what do you think?

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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on May 4, 2009 at 12:26pm

So you have your apparatus drivers, chief officers, and everyone else mask up in the rig on hazmats? What about the cops or an EMS unit being 1st due? They don't have SCBA, so how do you protect them?

The answer is "well back and upwind and uphill if possible".
Remember, exposure to hazmat is bad, but there's a big difference between no exposure, a below TWA exposure, and an IDLH exposure.

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Permalink Reply by Dennis Brown on May 4, 2009 at 1:19pm

Mask off in truck so you can hear orders clear and mask up when you get out so you can size up the scene

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Permalink Reply by daniel s romanoff on May 4, 2009 at 2:01pm

mask at our dept. are put on our regulators at time of call , when you are ready to make entry or other function at the scene you put your face mask on

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Permalink Reply by Alex on May 4, 2009 at 6:56pm

I agree with you on both counts, following the orders of your captain, but also on your thought process about size-up. The Captain is formally responsible for the event size-up, but you are responsible for your own personal size-up-bars on window, extension, roof type, construction etc. Chief Alan Brunacini always said beware of non-thinking attacker. The mask on might speed things up a little, but limits you more than the few seconds are worth.

Besafe ALex