Evaluating Firefighter On-Scene Decontamination Practices Using a National Fire Records Management System

Fernández, Antonio R. Martínez; Treichel, Alison; Myers, Joseph B.; Bourn, Scott S.; Crowe, Remle P.; Gardner, Bill

doi:10.1097/jom.0000000000002927

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 11 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Therefore, it is important for firefighters to wear PPE when performing firefighting activities at disaster sites, including all fires, and to take emergency decontamination actions to remove contaminants from the site after firefighting activities for disease prevention, hygiene and safety management [17,[20][21][22]. The decontamination effect of FPSs worn at fire scenes has been proven in several studies [21,23,24]. Some studies have analyzed the relationship between firefighters' PPE cleaning and storage behavior and health beliefs [25,26].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Associations between Recognition and Behaviors Regarding the Use, Washing and Management of Firefighting Protection Suits and Public Health Awareness of Occupational Exposure Risks among Firefighters

Kim,

Ham

2024

Fire

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The firefighting protective suits (FPSs) of firefighters at fire scenes affect their health and safety. However, the association between firefighters’ health awareness of occupational exposure risks and the FPS use, washing and management remains unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the association between firefighters’ health awareness of occupational exposure risks and their recognition, behaviors regarding the use, washing and management of FPSs. This study design is a cross-sectional study and used a web-based survey of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s electronic survey system. The survey was conducted on metropolitan firefighters performing shift work in charge of fire and rescue work for 21 days from 1 to 22 April 2019, with 1097 (40.3%) respondents. Characteristics of FPS use, washing and management and the association between thoughts and behaviors thereof and health awareness of occupational exposure risks were evaluated. Data of 1097 firefighters were analyzed using the SAS 9.4 statistical package, chi-square test and logistic regression analysis. Firefighters’ fire scene awareness rate of possible carcinogens was 94.4%. There was an association between public health thinking of occupational exposure risks and the correct use of an FPS for one’s own safety (AOR 1.97. 95% CI 1.02–3.80). However, no association was shown between correct FPS use (AOR 1.49, 95% CI 0.48–4.59), washing (AOR 2.50, 95% CI 0.93–6.68) and management (AOR 1.38, 95% CI 0.75–2.50) behaviors. This study analyzed the relationship between the use, washing and management of personal protective equipment called firefighting clothing and firefighters perceived occupational exposure risks. This study found an association between the health awareness of occupational exposure risks and recognition of the correct use of FPSs at fire scenes but not between using, washing and managing behaviors of FPSs. This study is the first to analyze the relationship between firefighting clothing and occupational health awareness level. The results confirm that future interventions are required to help firefighters practice desirable behaviors toward FPSs and provided evidenced data for preventing occupational diseases among firefighters. Therefore, this study can be used to develop a firefighter occupational health curriculum and establish health and safety plans from mid- to long-term perspectives for firefighters’ safety against occupational exposure risks.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Associations between Recognition and Behaviors Regarding the Use, Washing and Management of Firefighting Protection Suits and Public Health Awareness of Occupational Exposure Risks among Firefighters

Kim,

Ham

2024

Fire

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Impact of Skin Decontamination Wipe Solutions on the Percutaneous Absorption of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Probert,

Ormond,

Baynes

2024

Toxics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Firefighter occupational exposures were categorized as a class 1 (known) carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer in 2022. As a result, firefighters have become heavily focused on identifying effective and easy to implement decontamination strategies to reduce their chemical exposures. Skin decontamination using wipes post-exposure is one decontamination strategy that every firefighter has available to them. However, firefighters have expressed concerns over the ingredients in the wipe solution increasing dermal absorption. The goal of this study was to determine if the ingredients in skin decontamination wipe solution had any enhancement effect on the dermal absorption of phenanthrene. To determine any enhancement effects, the additive solution of four skin decontamination wipe products was applied to porcine skin 15 min after chemical dosing. The absorption of phenanthrene was tested in vitro using a flow-through diffusion cell system over eight hours. The wipe solution effects on dermal absorption were determined by measuring multiple absorption characteristics including cumulative absorption (µg/cm2), absorption efficiency (% dose absorbed), lag time (minutes), flux (µg/cm2/h), diffusivity (cm2/h), and permeability (cm/h). No penetration enhancement effects were observed in any of the skin decontamination wipe solutions tested; rather, all wipe solutions decreased the absorption of phenanthrene. Slight differences in cumulative absorption among two pairings of skin decontamination wipe solutions, wipes 1 and 3 vs. wipes 2 and 4, were observed, indicating that some ingredients may impact dermal absorption. These findings show that firefighters should continue using skin decontamination wipes to reduce their dermal exposures to fireground contaminants with little concern of increasing the absorption of phenanthrene.

show abstract

Evaluating Firefighter On-Scene Decontamination Practices Using a National Fire Records Management System

Cited by 2 publications

References 11 publications

Associations between Recognition and Behaviors Regarding the Use, Washing and Management of Firefighting Protection Suits and Public Health Awareness of Occupational Exposure Risks among Firefighters

Associations between Recognition and Behaviors Regarding the Use, Washing and Management of Firefighting Protection Suits and Public Health Awareness of Occupational Exposure Risks among Firefighters

Impact of Skin Decontamination Wipe Solutions on the Percutaneous Absorption of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About