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What is Your Department's SOPs on Turnout Gear on Medical Runs?
I was told I can not wear my bunker pants on aid runs. Since that time I have been exposed to more bodily fluids than I care to talk about. After a talk with the chief he said wear them if I like. But the next in the officer in line says NO. My First Responder instructor taught us to wear them they are just part of BSI.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mark Oomkes on
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Bunker gear is designed to be used in fighting fire.
No place else?
Not at all for BSI?
What about extrication\treating patients at crashes?
OSHA says we can't use TOG for crashes as BSI?
It is not designed to be used as a BSI barrier.
Seems to me that some TOG is certified as BSI, especially when responding to crashes\performing extrication. Could be wrong, but others have stated the same thing.
This contaminated surface will in turn cross contaminate every other firefighter and patient you come in contact with and whatever other place you visit including your station, family and washer.
Not if it's deconned after being contaminated, as it's supposed to be.
As well, no more than regular station wear being worn to medical after medical. You seem to indicate that everyone in EMS should change clothing\decon after every run.
Keep your bunker gear clean and fresh it will serve you well when you need it most.
Now you're contradicting yourself. First you say it will cross contaminate everyone and everything, now you say keep it clean.
How will it cross contaminate if it's clean?
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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on
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OSHA doesn't have anything to say about it at all, as far as I can tell.
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Permalink Reply by 55 TRUCK on
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NFPA are guid lines not laws Fire dept. don't have to follow them at all . They do have to follow OSHA laws and local state laws. Most state like Indiana have laws regarding what a dept. must provide to protect it's responders from Bio hazards & other contaminents etc.
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Bottom line is you have the right to protection from Bio hazards wether you are allowed to wear bunker pants or the Dept. provides you with somthing.
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Permalink Reply by big o on
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55 truck doesn't IFD provide everyone with an ems style set of light weight bunker gear or did they stop doing that seems i can remember having guys show up in bright blue on a call at my neighbors a few years back when i lived in the big city
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They use to Also Guys would snag the Wishard crews stuff..lol. Now it's just bunkers, some guys have the blue EMS gear at least pants, mostly the old guys who got it issued to them. Most everyone wears bunker pants..Some guys will wear the blue stuff if they have it but most of it is just left at the station. The Wishard & IFD civilian medics do have the blue ems gear.
One thing that we deal with is Junkies. And Junkies have needles. Have on a couple occasions gotten up from kneeling down after starting a line in a OD at 3am in some low light roach infested puke hole. To find a needle sticking out of my bunker pants..Luckily it was unable to penetrate th reinforced knee. Now this may be somthing us city folk deal with...I do know that you Rural area FF deal with somthing just as dangerouse..Meth Labs. Needles & explosives things Oh MY.
Hope this answers your question.
God Bless
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Permalink Reply by Mike Schlags (Captain Busy) Retd on
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Not to be Captain Obvious here but... am I the only one that knows and champions the use of black lights to detect the presence of bodily fluids that fluoresce under the UV light? Have doubts? Get one of these lights and visit someone's home that has pets. Wait till it's dark and take a look at the carpets, furniture, walls... it's not pretty and you will immediately get the point that you do have a tool available to detect the presence of body fluids.
Note: You CANNOT use bleach on nomex turnouts... Bleach melts the nomex threads... and wouldn't that be a surprise... and using bleach directly on someone's skin? That's not very pretty either. Happy Halloween!
TCSS,
CBz
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don't think there is a firefighter in the state who hasn't "borrowed" something off a Wishard truck if they have been around one, lol, but I know about the needles worked security in the city for a while in some of the not so nice neighborhoods (the swamp, the meadows) so I know what you mean about needle sticks, as far as meth labs out here in the boonies Ive been lucky not to come across directly but when it got hot in the summer i could smell them in a few places ass i drove by
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Permalink Reply by Patti Walz on
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Most of the druggies that I know are scared of the coyotes.... :)
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Permalink Reply by capcityff on
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We wear our gear whenever we want. I usually only throw on my bunker pants at night since I like to change into athletic shorts for bed. So when we catch a run I just throw the bunker pants on.
We don't wash our gear after every structure fire. It's not really feasible with a department like ours. We run multiple box alarms every tour with a working fire at least once in the city every day. We have a lot of firemen on scene for every fire. They can't just wash everyone's gear that day. They also have to be ready to respond to the next run since its a career department. I catch medicals all the time on the way back to the fire house after a box alarm. It's also not good for the gear to wash it TOO much.
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I think the guy needs a tan
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Permalink Reply by Alan McGuigan on
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We recommend that our guys wear their bunker gear on medical calls You never know what your going to run into glass, sharps etc Your bunker gear gives you a few extra layers to protect you from those dangers and the fluids you may be exposed to. If your gear gets containated get i washed its a lot easier than trying to deal with a bio harzard that has entered your body through a cut or exposure !!
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