FEATURE
The POWER of Reading the Instructions
It may come as a surprise but the majority of firefighters have not read a very important document in regard to their personal safety. Andy Starnes It is the instructions that come with every set of firefighter personal protective equipment issued to them. Ask the following questions to another firefighter and wait for the awkward silence to end: • Have you read the instructions on your turn-out gear (PPE)? • Do you know the limitations of your turn-out gear? Your pants, coats, gloves, facepiece, and SCBA? • What is the TPP of your gear? • What is the THL of your gear? • When was the last time your PPE was inspected for damage? • Why is this important to firefighters? There are defined limits to the protection a protective ensemble can provide.A firefighter’s P.P.E. reduces their risk of burns and injuries by absorbing and releasing heat. However, P.P.E are not indestructible shields from all fireground elements. FEMSA advises,“Be constantly alert to the possibility of exposure to radiant, convective, or conductive heat and other hazards.” (Within the PPE User Information Guide on page 2.) I
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It is also recommended that you be consistently aware of your surroundings for exposure to radiant, convective, or conductive heat and other hazards (FEMSA User Guide p.2-4). For firefighters to be consistently aware of their surroundings for exposure to these particular elements; they must first understand how their senses have been deprived of being able to recognize these elements. So, let’s pose the question: How well do firefighters understand their PPE? And more importantly how do firefighters measure heat? Today’s modern fire environment consists of engineered materials in construction filled with higher heat release content fuels that demands a diagnostic tool that allows firefighters to prevent thermal insult, identify and locate the fire’s severity, and locate any victims or firefighters in danger more quickly than ever before.The victim trapped inside of a fire is not afforded the luxury of a SCBA and modern firefighter P.P.E to protect them.And in studying and training internationally, we have witnessed a common and disturbing trend. Many firefighters base their need to flow water on whether or not they feel heat.When a firefighter crawls through a 300-degree Fahrenheit room on the way to the seat of the fire they would often say,“I didn’t open the nozzle because it wasn’t that hot.” However, an unprotected
victim lying in that environment would beg to differ with a firefighter’s subjective definition of “heat.”Those who advocate that firefighters should wait to feel the heat to indicate their level of safety should read and remember the following: A firefighter’s protection within the confines of their P.P.E is determined by many factors and variables. However, the ability of a protective garment to withstand a specific level of heat until it is saturated to the point of the individual receiving a second-degree burn is known as TPP.
What is TPP? TPP stands for Thermal Protective Performance as it equates to our PPE’s
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ability to protect us to the point at which our bodies receive a second-degree burn. This is often associated with the thermal insult that occurs during flashover conditions but TPP is much more complex than this. It is the rating on how long a firefighter can operate in a specific thermal environment based on temperature, heat flux, and duration of exposure and the overall condition of his or her PPE. Thermal Protective Performance is based on the work of Alice Stoll. In 1967 in a study performed by Alice Stoll and Maria Chianta, the women lined up and physically burned a group of young sailors on their forearms! They recorded the temperature and time at which the men
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