NFPA Journal - January/February 2018 - 48

Perspectives
have to go out of their way to get clean. Those
would be things you use on a daily basis walking
back and forth between the bay and living quarters, whether on a call or not. After a call, we tried
to develop a new protocol that allows returning
firefighters to enter a decontamination room
and send the gear in one direction, to laundry
and storage. Personnel are sent in another direction, to a private bathroom with a sink, toilet,
and shower, where they can rinse that off all the
contaminants that may have penetrated through
the seams of their PPE. Then they get into clean
uniforms and get back into service. That is a revolutionary concept. It doesn't sound complicated,
but most stations are not configured that way
because people have not historically recognized
the link between exposure to contaminants and
the risk of cancer.
You've presented these ideas across the
country, including last year's NFPA
Conference & Expo. What feedback have
you received about these ideas?
The response has been positive across the board-
people seem stimulated by the ideas. I've heard
people say things like, 'This is crazy, why haven't
we been doing this for years?" The fact that we are
using a familiar concept like HAZMAT control and
applying it to station design is something people
readily understand. Occasionally, I have seen some
elements of doubt that stem, I think, from a sense
of the limitation of what is possible. We are pushing
against well-established departmental protocols,
and sometimes people feel like they just can't make
a change. That's probably the biggest challenge. But
I don't want to emphasize that too much, because I
think the vast majority of people who get exposed
to this say, "Hey, there are some really interesting
ideas in here and we can do something." I would
propose that we can make a change, that we are
obligated to make a change, and even a small
change is worth the effort it requires.

nfpa.org/
perspectives
WATCH a video of
Paul Erickson giving
a presentation on
clean fire station
design at the 2017
NFPA Responder
Forum.

What has the interest level been from fire
department leaders? Do you get the sense
that these ideas are being put into practice?
My sense is this is becoming more mainstream,
just like how the cancer issue has moved from the
fringes to center stage. I've talked to a number of
colleagues across the country and they are aware
of these concepts and are adopting them in their
discussions with clients. A number of our clients
are telling us they want to include these strategies
in their facilities. There is nothing more important to them than saving the lives of comrades, and
this is something we can all unite behind. There

48 | NFPA JOURNAL * J A N U A R Y / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8

was a fire chief who heard my talk in May and
called me a month later to say he wanted to talk
more about this concept and asked us to come
visit. In the interim he told me about what his
department had done to change already, and it
was clear that the chief had paid careful attention
to the presentation and that it had resonated with
him. He went back and made numerous changes
within just a couple weeks of the presentation.
Most firehouses today were built when
contamination control wasn't at the forefront
of firefighter safety. What design elements in
a typical firehouse concern you most?
It's still common to see PPE stored in the apparatus bay, sometimes hanging on hooks on the wall,
sometimes in lockers on the wall. That is probably the number-one issue that gets my attention,
because any kind of PPE that has been exposed to
carcinogens will off-gas unless it has been thoroughly cleaned, and most of the time that doesn't
happen. That off-gassing creates a hostile environment for anybody working there.
The PPE itself is also potentially being exposed
to additional contaminants if there isn't a diesel
exhaust control system in the apparatus bay.
There is a chance for contaminants to become
embedded in the interior of the PPE. According to
the Firefighter Cancer Support Network, for every
five degrees your body temperature rises, the
absorption rate of these chemicals through your
skin increases 400 percent. This means that when
you start to sweat on the fireground, the contaminants on the inside of your PPE become more
readily absorbed through your skin and into your
body. So PPE should be stored in a separate room
with a door, ideally with a dedicated mechanical
unit that would dry out the gear and exhaust any
carcinogens to the exterior of the building.
Since it's not financially feasible for most
departments to build new fire stations,
what are some steps departments can take to
mitigate the risks in their current buildings?
Perhaps the single best way to control the spread
of contaminants is to make sure people wash and
sanitize their hands. We advocate for putting a
hand sink next to the entry into the living quarters. If that's not possible, you could install a hand
sanitizer. That is the single best way to control the
spread of contaminants.
Secondly, think about the storage of materials. If
something is intended for use in a hot zone like the
apparatus bay, it should be stored in the hot zone.
The last thing you want to do is store all of your
products out in the apparatus bay and pick up your

http://www.nfpa.org/perspectives

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - January/February 2018