By: Reginald D. Freeman, MS, MIFireE, CFO
You have just returned to the station from battling a heavily involved structure fire. You go through the motions of getting back into service by replacing the sooted cross lays with fresh hose, decontaminating the apparatus, tools, and equipment that were used and finally, conduct your after action review with all personnel involved in the emergency. Everyone shares a laugh at the expense of the rookie for steaming the Captain because the nozzle was on full fog instead of narrow fog during initial fire suppression efforts. But one critical step was skipped, which occurs in a lot of firehouses, the decontamination of the sooted gear. How often, at the end of every shift, is our gear decontaminated? For busy houses, this is difficult because of the call volume; however, when the opportunity presents itself, such as departments that have two sets of gear per firefighter, the changing out of gear should happen as frequently as possible. There are often comments such as, “Look at that rookie gear” or “I don’t want to have Chief gear”. Both are presumptions of one having gear that has not been involved in the mitigation of a fire or is not “dirty”. Emergency responders hopefully will continue to abandon these ideologies and embrace a safer practice of personal protective equipment (PPE) maintenance. Inspections of PPE should take place at the beginning and end of every shift or after an exposure to a hazardous environment. Proper decontamination of PPE varies depending on the manufactures recommendations. Always reference manufactures suggestions in regards to cleaning PPE. There are some common practices that are in use by many fire departments. Standards and cleaning recommendations pertaining to PPE is found in NFPA 1971, Protective Clothing for Structural Firefighting and NFPA 1851, standard on Selection, Care and Maintenance of Structural Firefighting Protective Ensembles. Did you know that NFPA 1851 states that all structural firefighting ensembles must be cleaned and inspected to manufactures specifications at least annually and that this must be documented? Do you currently have a department policy in place that supports this recommendation?
          Protective clothing should be cleaned as soon as possible to avoid the setting in of soils and stains. For severe soil spots, use an approved spot cleaner before washing. PPE can be machine washed at a temperature below 140 degrees F or hand washed. If hand washed, place coat on a hard surface such as a table top with the lining side down and make sure to spot clean extremely soiled areas. Using a mild soap or detergent (recommended by the manufacturer) and hot water at 105 degrees F wash the PPE ensemble with a soft brush or cloth.  Rinse garment thoroughly with clean water and hang to dry in an open area with adequate circulation (Do not hang in direct sunlight). Hoods can be washed in a washing machine using laundry detergent recommended by the manufacturer and warm water. Additionally, hoods may be dried on medium heat in a clothes dryer.
          Firefighting gloves should be kept clean and free of dirt and hydrocarbons, or any other substances. If gloves have to be cleaned, then manufacturer’s recommendations should be followed. In most cases, the cleaning procedures of gloves are very similar to those of bunker coats and pants. Firefighting boots should be free of mechanical damage due to punctures, tears or melting. The sole should be in good condition and free from excessive wear. The tread should be in good condition in order to provide traction. Boots should be cleaned by using warm water and mild soap or detergent approved by the manufacturer. A soft brush could possibly be used to free the boot from heavy soot and other debris from the mitigation of emergencies.  
         Helmets should be kept clean and all reflective trim should be in place. The inner liner should be in place and free of damage, buildup of dirt, hydrocarbons, or other substances. Helmets, as the other pieces of PPE, can be cleaned by using warm water and mild soap or detergent approved by the manufacturer. Heavily soiled gear contains carbon and other harmful solids from the combustion process. Some of these toxic materials are known carcinogens. FEMA defines a carcinogen as being a chemical or physical agent that encourages cells to develop cancer. Repeated exposure to such harmful products may not immediately show harmful side effects but could cause illness due to chronic exposure. Our health and the health of our co-workers and families can be suitably protected if we implement the appropriate initiatives. These initiatives include properly decontaminating ourselves when we arrive back to the station from an emergency. This will help in preventing the accidental ingestion of harmful products and cross contamination. Last but not least, we should follow the previously listed steps pertaining to cleaning our PPE after it has been exposed to toxic and harmful materials.
Simple 3 Step PPE Care Process:
 

 

        
 
 
 
Our profession is one of distinct merit and admiration from the communities that we serve. We spend a lot of time focusing on how we can help others and occasionally forget about taking care of ourselves. It is incumbent upon us to properly decontaminate our gear after each call. Our families are depending on us to make sure that the trophies that we take away from calls are those of pictures that staff personnel take and not the harmful toxins that we have on our gear. These types of trophies should be neutralized as soon as possible. For any questions pertaining to this subject matter, contact your department Training/Safety Officer or other designated member. Remember to always refer to the manufacturers recommendations in regards to the cleaning and or maintenance of any pieces of PPE.  
Sources: NFPA 1971 & 1851. Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Fire & Emergency Services Occupational Safety & Health Department Management Plan.                                             
 Reginald D. Freeman Biography:
     Reginald D. Freeman is currently serving as the Fire Chief for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics in Marietta, GA. Chief Freeman has been awarded member status with the Institution of Fire Engineers, accredited as a Chief Fire Officer Designee (CFO), Fellow of Harvard University’s Senior Executives for State & Local Government, and he is currently on NFPA’s Technical Committee for Fire Officer Professional Qualifications. Chief Freeman has a Bachelor of Arts in Leadership, a Master of Science in Executive Fire Service Leadership, and he is currently pursuing his Doctorate of Education in Organizational Leadership.