Chapter 6 Firefighter Personal Protective Equipment

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General term for the equipment worn by fire and emergency service responders; includes helmets, coats, trousers, boots, eye protection, hearing protection, protective gloves, protective hoods, SCBA, and PASS devices.

AKA: bunker clothes, bunker gear, full structural protective clothing, turnout clothing, or turnout gear

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(PPE) Personal Protective Equipment

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Activities required for rescue, fire suppression, and property conservation in structures, vehicles, vessels, and similar types of properties.

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Structural Fire Fighting

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Activities required for rescue, fire suppression, and property conservation at fires that produce high radiant, conductive, or convective heat; includes aircraft, haz mat, and storage tanks

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Proximity Fire Fighting

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Standard on Protective Ensembles for Structural Fire Fighting and Proximity Fire Fighting

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NFPA 1971

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Headgear worn by firefighters that provides protection from falling objects, side blows, elevated temperatures, and heated water

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Helmets

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Hood designed to protect the firefighter's ears, neck, and face from heat and debris

Typically made of Nomex, Kevlar, or PBI

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Protective Hood

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Coat worn during fire fighting, rescue, and extrication operations

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Protective Coat

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Trousers worn to protect the lower torso and legs during emergency operations

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Protective Trousers

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Protective clothing designed to protect the hands

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Protective Gloves

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Protective footwear that protects the foot, ankle, and lower leg during emergency operations

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Fire Fighting Boots

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Device that limits noise-induced hearing loss when firefighters are exposed to extremely loud environments

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Hearing Protection

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Electronic lack-of-motion sensor that sounds a loud alarm when a firefighter becomes motionless. Can be manually activated

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(PASS) Personal Alert Safety System

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Exposure to conditions that create a hazard to the respiratory system, including products of combustion, toxic gases, and superheated or oxygen deficient atmospheres

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Respiratory Hazards

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Atmosphere containing less than the normal 19.5% oxygen

At least 16% oxygen is needed to produce flames or sustain human life

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Oxygen Deficient Atmosphere

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Potentially fatal condition caused by lack of oxygen

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Hypoxia

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Accumulation of fluids in the lungs

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Pulmonary Edema

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Very small particle of solid matter that is suspended in the atmosphere

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Particulate

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Respirator that removes contaminates by passing ambient air through a filter, cartridge, or canister, may have a full or partial face piece

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(APR) Air-Purifying Respirator

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Motorized respirator that uses a filter to clean surrounding air, then delivers it to the wearer to breathe. Typically includes a headpiece, breathing tube, and a blower/battery box that is worn on the belt

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(PAPR) Powered Air-Purifying Respirator

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Compressible substance with no specific volume, that tends to assume the shape of the container. Molecules move most rapidly in this state

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Gas

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Gaseous form of a substance that is normally in a solid or liquid state at room temperature and pressure; formed by evaporation from a liquid or sublimation from a solid

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Vapor

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Disease causing microorganisms that are suspended in the air (viruses, bacteria, or fungi)

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Airborne Pathogens

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Respiratory filter that is certified to remove at least 99.97% of monodisperse particles of 0.3 micrometers in diameter

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(HEPA) High-Efficiency Particulate Air Filter

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SCBA that allows exhaled air to be discharged or vented into the atmosphere

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Open-Circuit Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus

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SCBA that recycles exhaled air; removes carbon dioxide and restores compressed, chemical, or liquid oxygen. Not approved for firefighting operations.

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Closed-Circuit Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus

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Respirator fit test that measures the wearer's response to a test agent, such as irritant smoke or odorous vapor. If the wearer detects the test agent, such as through smell or taste, the respirator fit is inadequate.

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(QLFT) Qualitative Fit Test

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Fit test in which instruments measure the amount of a test agent that has leaked into the respirator from the ambient atmosphere. If the leakage measures above a preset amount, the respirator fit is inadequate

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(QNFT) Quantitative Fit Test

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Rules and regulations published by executive agencies of the U.S. federal government. These administrative laws are just as enforceable as statutory laws which must be passed by Congress.

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(CFR) Code of Federal Regulation

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Testing method that uses water under pressure to check the integrity of pressure vessels

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Hydrostatic Test

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Three or more large, interconnected air cylinders, from which smaller SCBA cylinders are recharged; the larger cylinders typically have a capacity of 300 cubic feet

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Cascade System

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Legal term for the maximum amount of a chemical substance or other hazard that an employee can be exposed to; typically expressed in parts per million or milligrams per cubic meter. If exposed to this concentration for an entire 40-hour work week, 95% of healthy adults would not suffer health consequences

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(PEL) Permissible Exposure Limit

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Non-load bearing rope that is anchored to a safe, exterior location and attached to a firefighter during search operations to act as a safety line

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Search Line

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Clothing designed to meet the needs of specific rescue operations, including: technical rescue, ice rescue, and hazardous materials incidents

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Special Protective Clothing

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Clothing designed according to the requirements of NFPA 1977 and includes: gloves, goggles, jackets, jumpsuits, face/neck shrouds; as well as other equipment

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Wildland Personal Protective Clothing

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Clothing designed to increase visibility to motorists, includes traffic vests

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Roadway Operations Clothing

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Clothing worn to protect against exposure to infectious bodily fluids that must meet the requirements of NFPA 1999

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Emergency Medical Protective Clothing

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Clothing that according to the requirements of NFPA 1971 must include: reflective trim, wristlets, collars, a closure system, and a drag rescue device

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Structural Fire Fighting Protective Clothing

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Clothing designed to meet the requirements of NFPA 1975 and intended to identify the wearer as a member of the organization and provide a layer of protection against direct flame contact

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Station/work Uniform

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Hazard which can cause superheated air to damage the respiratory tract, a serious decrease in blood pressure, and a failure of the circulatory system

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Elevated Temperatures

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Hazard which may be inhaled, ingested, or absorbed into the body; includes formaldehyde, phosgene, and nitrous gases

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Gases and Vapors

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Hazard caused by disease causing microorganisms suspended in the air

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Airborne Pathogens

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Hazard produced during incidents involving industrial occupancies, spills from transportation accidents, and leaks from storage containers

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Nonfire gases and vapors

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Hazard most commonly caused by combustion which consumes and displaces oxygen present in the atmosphere

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Oxygen Deficiency

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Hazard produced by vehicle exhaust emissions, chemical reactions, heated metals or metal compounds, and combustion

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Particulate Contaminates