One area where NFPA and the fire service have a close bond is personal protective equipment. Working in partnership our documents and standards have evolved to support the highest level of protection the industry can provide to the American fire service. While many of us have witnessed this evolution through our careers and membership in fire departments, there is a generation of firefighters who have only utilized ppe developed and constructed to comply with NFPA standards. This could lead to one assuming ppe has always provided the same level of protection and safety as enjoyed today.
Bruce Teele, our staff liaison to almost everything related to ppe, has been with NFPA for more then 40 years, shared the following story, that illustrates how ppe was back then. In the early 1970's , a committee was discussing the needs of the fire service relative to the current style of turn out coats provided for firefighters.The standard of the time was for coats to repel water, and not much else.Basically, firefighter coats were overgrown rain coats, with little thermal absorption, no reflective trim, and no consideration for keeping firefighters warm during winter operations.As the committee discussed how to address these issues, a manufacturer attending the meeting stood up and declared,"All firemen need are coats that keep them dry. My coats are cheap, and the cities and fire departments love that and will keep buying them. You guys,(referring to the committee), are wrong and will be out of business in five years! He then stormed out of the room.
Five years later, NFPA 1971 had been issued and that manufacturer was out of business.
As a result of the hard work and focus on firefighter safety, ppe today has evolved from raincoats to integrated ensembles of protective equipment designed to protect firefighters against a range of dangers.As good as the design is, it remains our challenge to ensure personnel utilize these ensembles correctly, wearing them when appropriate.Wearing full ppe during any fire attack is essential to the personal safety of all firefighters.
How effective is ppe now? Last February, two firefighters from the Croft,S.C. fire department were attacking a vehicle fire involving a pick up truck. As they attacked the fire, a brief but violent explosion took place that enveloped them in a fireball and peppered them with debris from the blast. These firefighters had ppe designed to today's standards and were utilizing scba along with a complete ensemble of structural ppe.They probably didn't know it, but by wearing the complete ensemble, they were conforming to several NFPA Standards, including NFPA 1001 and NFPA 1500. How did the ppe hold up? How did the firefighters make out? When put to the test, did the standards achieve their goal? Click the link to see the blast and the aftermath, courtesy of Fire Engineering.
http://community.fireengineering.com/video/video/show?id=1219672%3AVideo%3A168478
To the many dedicated volunteers who served on our committees to develop standards like those that protected the Croft firefighters, thank you!
Ken Willette
I have been reading articles about NFPA and i can not understand what is the exact mean of this, i need your help because i am interested in know more about NFPA
Posted by: Inversiones en petroleo | April 29, 2011 at 04:43 PM