Personal Protective Equipment

[lutan1]

P.P.E. or Personal Protective Equipment.

The Oxford disctionary defines the following:
Personal- one's own; private; referring to an individual
Protective- keep safe; shield
Equipment- outfit

Put it all together- Ones own keep safe outfit....

I get so angry when I see the TV or newspapers or photo stories on this site and others of so called "professionals" performing extrication with little or even worse, no protective safety gear.

Who the hell are the fools that authorise people to work inside action circles with Turn-out pants and T-shirts for crying out loud? Where's the Safety Officer or the Officer In Charge of the scene?

The one thing we always teach our rookies is Safety, Safety, Safety, Safety. Yet, we get to scene and forget all about it! What is it? Adrenaline? If it is, get over it! Take time out and think safety first- yours, then the casualty.

I haven't as yet seen invisible gloves, or tear resistant rubber gloves! I haven't as yet seen eyes that are safe from flying glass, paint flecks, etc.! And I most certainly have NEVER seen an extrication that involved metal movement or relocation that does not involve sharp edges, etc!

DOH! This makes me so angry- wear your PPE.

Protect ourselves.

Protect our responding "brothers and sisters" and project a proper, professional and safe image to the media and the rest of the world.

Anyway that's my soapbox for the day- what's your thoughts?

(PS- I know there are some instances where bulky helmets can be in the way, etc.)

[firefighter26]

PPE is a must for MVAs. I wouldn't even consider anything else. My department sent a team to a auto extrication compitition last year, (ya, I was on the team), and we noticed a few halls didn't wear their PPE, were as we had full gear, helmets, gloves, safety glasses and even dust masks were we could get to them quickly.

Perhaps some guys get caught up in the moment and get a type of tunnel vision, concentrating on the scene while forgetting their safety. I know I have done it, we all have at least once.

We converted many of our guys by simply pulling them off the tools during practices if they are not fully protected. Another thing that really helped, was getting the key guys to do it. When the key guys that others look up to do it, the rest will do it.

Safety is a MUST, no question about it.

[911WACKER]

The worst part about it is that the officers are usually the ones who do those sort of things and set a bad example, sad but true. You can have all the s.o.p.'s in the world but thay have to be enforced or you might as well wipe your *** with them. The rescue company I run with bought us all extrication jumpsuits for the better fit and the fact that we were dropping like fly's on heavy entrapment calls in the summer from the heat. They are easy to don and do not restrict movement.

[lutan1]

It's good to hear of a pro-active department buying jumpsuits. I beleive turn out coats and pants have a very limited use in extrication scenarios.

They are bulky, they restrict movement and unfortunately as you've discovered, they're dman hot to wear and work in and can affect the wearer.....