Firefighters get cancer at a higher rate than the general public. In most cases it is most likely a result of high exposure to carcinogens throughout their professional lives. By now these are well-known facts. To reduce the mortality rates, we must reduce the exposure. Unfortunately, this is not a one-way battle and it can sometimes feel like an impossible task. However, the more we learn about what substances are carcinogenic, where they originate from, and where the exposure is taking place, the easier it is for both the fire service and the entire industry to adjust. The most important thing is that you get started now. We might not have all the answers today but if you wait it could be too late.
Cancer prevention policy and education
Different departments might have progressed differently in their work with cancer prevention but one thing that everyone can do is to make sure they have set up clear routines about how to protect their co-workers from exposure and make sure they minimize the spreading of dangerous toxins and compounds throughout the premises. This of course includes having the PPE needed to fulfill your duties on sight but also routines on how to handle and take care of contaminated gear after an emergency call as well as personal hygiene routines. An important part of this is to make sure everyone understands the importance, and have the basic knowledge, about why these routines should always be followed. A cancer prevention program/policy should also include a plan or strategy that aims to always improve. It can be through education programs, future investments in new protective gear, structural changes or refurbishments to establish a safer work environment, investing in new products that enable safer, better ways of decontamination etc.
A simple wet mitigation technique for gross decon will remove 80-85% of contaminants.
Gross Decon
Gross decon is one of the quickest and easiest ways to limit your exposure to cariogenic materials. It can also be one of the simplest tasks completed during an emergency event. For starters, not a lot of additional resources are needed. All that is needed is a bucket, soap, and a soft bristle brush. Water is normally supplied by the engine company operating on the scene. For best results, ensure all of the PPE is scrubbed and a thorough rinse is completed. A simple wet mitigation technique for gross decon will remove 80-85% of contaminants. 1
Once you have been scrubbed off remove the turnout gear carefully without risking dermal exposure. Have a colleague help you if necessary. Then place your kit in a disposable bag and seal it.
Shower within the hour
Avoiding harmful pollutants from sticking to your hair and parts of your body during an emergency event is an impossible thing. To reduce dermal exposure, it is therefore important to shower as soon as possible once back at the station. Shower in cold water in the beginning. This will keep your skin pores closed and prevent skin absorption.
Decontamination and cleaning
In 2020, the latest edition of NFPA 1851 (Standard on Selection, Care, and Maintenance of Protective Ensembles for Structural Fire Fighting and Proximity Fire Fighting)2 was released. What was written in that document changed how we view PPE cleaning. For the first time we can now verify that we are cleaning to a specific standard. This standard was set as a minimum to ensure washing was removing harmful materials during washing. The standard also mandated that firefighters participate in Preliminary Exposure Reduction (Gross Decon) after every exposure to products of combustion.
Advanced Cleaning
For years the fire service wore their dirty gear as a badge of honor. The dirtier the gear was, the more “salty” you looked. No one even dared to clean their gear because of the fear they would look weak or inexperienced. While there’s still a few people that think that way out there, the majority of the fire service has opened their eyes. In addition to cleaning your gear after every fire, firefighters are also required to have their gear cleaned on a scheduled cycle of twice a year with a certified individual available to conduct an advance inspection of the gear. Not only does this offer every set of PPE to be cleaned at least twice, it also catches potential quality issues before the firefighter is called to duty.
SCBA Decon Washers
With the addition of cleaning standards for the PPE included in the NFPA 1851, we can now look at other pieces of equipment that can cause exposure to the same contaminants we eliminated by advanced cleaning. We now see SCBAs as the dirtiest piece of equipment on our apparatus. In the past they were rarely cleaned and firefighters would respond to EMS calls with nothing more than a T-shirt separating their bodies from the SCBA. The SCBA should also be decontaminated after every fire and even though manual washing is better than nothing a machine wash would be preferred for several reasons, the main one being that it eliminates the risk of dermal exposure during the wash.
RESCUE Intellitech offers the Solo Rescue® and DeconWasher™ Pro S. The Solo Rescue for example, allows firefighters to clean their SCBA including their facepiece mechanically in eight minutes. Additionally, firefighters can clean their helmets, boots, and gloves in 3 minutes. This cuts down on out of service times and gets the firefighter back in service sooner. It should be noted that the Solo Rescue® is the only SCBA washer that is NFPA 1851 & NFPA 1852 Compliant. Effectively cleaning of SCBAs will cut down on exposures to carcinogenic materials and help in the reduction of cancer rates in the fire service.
Cross-contamination
Another thing to take into consideration when it comes to minimizing exposures to carcinogens within the fire service is to be aware of the risks of cross-contamination. Studies show that carcinogenic particles can be found in most areas within a fire station 3. To avoid this, it is important to handle contaminated gear in a safe and regulated manner to minimize the spreading of these particles. One way of doing that is to make sure not to handle and store clean and contaminated gear in the same space within the station. By dividing the different spaces in a station into contaminated zones and clean zones and set up rules and routines for all employees to follow you can minimize the cross-contamination hence minimizing the risk of exposure.
The design and floor plan plays a vital part in minimizing dangerous exposure for firefighters and other coworkers at a fire station. For architects with new stations on their drawing board it is important to look at the current research available to make sure all need-to-have spaces and technology are included in the original plan and accounted for. Is there enough space for a decon workshop? Does the floor plan prevent cross-contamination? Where do we need over and under pressure to stop airborne contaminants from traveling between rooms?
Research and product development
As mentioned in this previous article research and scientific studies are not just important for the fire services but also for the entire fire protection industry. In order to make significant progress we all need to play our part in transforming the firefighting profession and make it a safer workplace for the people that have committed their lives to helping others. Private companies have to participate in the debate and invest in their own research and development in order to enhance existing products as well as come up with new innovative products and services to speed up and help this transformation.
By pinpointing dangerous chemicals used in the making of products within the firefighting industry we can start to phase them out and replace them with less harmful alternatives. An example of this is the use of AFFFs 4. After realizing the dangers of certain chemicals such as PFOS and PFOA (and other PFAS) many fire departments have already made the switch to fluorine free foams. But with new products comes new chemicals that might turn out to be hazardous in other ways over time. It is therefore important to always continue to conduct further studies and research and keep moving forward.
- FFCancer_ReduceExposure.pdf (iaff.org)
- https://www.nfpa.org/codes-and-standards/all-codes-and-standards/list-of-codes-and-standards/detail?code=1851
- Occupational Exposure to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Elevated Cancer Incidence in Firefighters
- https://www.nfpa.org/News-and-Research/Publications-and-media/NFPA-Journal/2022/Fall-2022/Features/Foam
