IAFF Redmond Symposium focus on Firefighter Operations Issues
The IAFF's Redmond Symposium on firefighter health and safety continued Wednesday in San Francisco with a focus on "Fire Fighter Operations Issues" and workshops on Biological Weapons of Mass Destruction, WMD Response, and more.
The day was also highlighted by MSA's Harley Davidson motorcycle giveaway and the appearance of IAFF endorsed presidential candidae Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts.
Presenters at the workshop on biological WMD stressed the importance of having fit-tested protective equipment ready, including respirators.
Dr. Scott Deitchman, Assistant Director for Emergency Preparedness at NIOSH, discussed infection control during patient transport. He explained when rescue workers are at risk for infection and the proper precautions to take depending on how each disease is transmitted. For example, smallpox has an incubation period of about two weeks during which it is not an infection hazard, he said. The patient poses a risk when a rash develops, and stops after the rash scabs over and falls off. For smallpox, Deitchman recommends precautions for airborne disease transmission as well as contact transmission.
Precautions for airborne transmission during patient transport would include running the vehicle ventilation system on high, not re-circulating the air, wearing a fit-tested respirator and putting a surgical mask on the patient, he said.
For anthrax, responders only need to take standard precautions because patients don't release spores. Responders would need to inhale or ingest spores or get them into a break in their skin to become infected, Deitchman said.
For viral hemorrhagic fevers such as Ebola and Lassa, standard precautions including eye protection and a mask are enough during the early stage of infection. But when there is vomiting, diarrhea, bleeding or respiratory symptoms, this increases the risk of droplet contact and requires respiratory protection.
Deitchman recommended that responders get additional information at www.naemsp.org or www.bt.cdc.gov.
Deputy Chief A.D. Vickery of the Seattle Fire Department spoke about the importance of collecting health information on responders in advance, knowing which responders can and can't be vaccinated, and having protective equipment ready so that rescue workers can keep working instead of facing quarantine.
Vickery also spoke about detection equipment and the limited capabilities of current technology. He said that through the IAFF, efforts are being made to improve the technology available.
He also discussed screening calls for unknown hazardous substances and deciding when to send full a hazmat team, or when to send a sample on to a lab for testing. "There's not a lot of science that happens on the street. It's an art," he said.
The day's plenary session took place at noon and included a presentation on the technology of firefighter location devices by Dr. Wayne Haase, president of Summit Safety, Inc. of Devens, MA. He discussed the different kinds of technology available, and in particular, the benefits of ultrasonic equipment for rescuing downed firefighters.
He explained that with his Personnel Ultrasonic Locating Safety Equipment, each firefighter would wear a beacon. If one became lost, a tracking device would actually lead searchers on a path to the victim because the ultrasonic signal travels through doorways and openings, but not walls. After extensive trials, this technology allowed firefighters to locate a missing firefighter typically within 2-5 minutes, while with PASS devices it took 10-20 minutes, and on blind searches it took up to 40 minutes, he said.
Other presentations at the plenary session included a talk by Richard Metzler, Laboratory Director for NIOSH's National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL), about the lab's accomplishments, current research, and their partnership with the IAFF on Project HEROES, a new protective clothing and equipment initiative.