Fires, natural disasters, and other rescue operations are some of the responsibilities that are handled by the brave people of the fire and rescue departments in the Philippines. Because they face the most danger, firefighter safety should become a top priority. This list provides tips on how to keep firefighters as safe as possible even when in dangerous situations. Keep reading to learn more!
Any department or bureau that firefighters work under should have proper safety protocols in place. These protocols and other safety rules and regulations are most likely taught to recruits in training. They were designed to keep everyone safe in as many situations as possible. With these, firefighters should have less chances of getting seriously injured.
Instead of treating these protocols as constraints, you should treat them as extra precautions already prepared for you by your department. Even those that may not seem as important as others, such as proper and routine handwashing and housekeeping, are there to protect you since you could be exposed to many possible pathogens in the field, especially if you were in contact with blood.
Other than that, reporting possible hazards promptly might just save lives. If a piece of equipment in stock is damaged, that can already count as a hazard.
Personal protective equipment (PPE) are there to protect you from anything that may harm you in your line of work. Dangerous and life-threatening situations are already big parts of the firefighters’ job description. By properly using your PPE, you would be protected from hazards such as sharp objects or the fire itself.
Before being distributed, the quality of the PPE should be ensured by getting only high quality supplies from reputable safety equipment suppliers. This strictness is required because having faulty or subpar PPE might mean the difference between life and death. Here is a list of the standard PPE for firefighters:
Each one of these pieces of equipment protects different parts of the body from various types of hazards. But even the best equipment in the world would not be able to protect you if you do not wear and maintain them properly.
Hazards are everywhere. The quality of the glove will decide whether the hand will get burned or not. The tunic’s ability to resist fire and sharp objects might save any vital organ from injury.Even wearing the breathing apparatus improperly might lead to your intake of toxic gases.
Keep yourself from being unnecessarily exposed by using the PPE properly, and make sure that the whole team checks each other for any leaks, tears, or other possible causes for injury.
Firefighters use a variety of rescue tools in the field. They have been trained to use them all in different situations. But as much as these tools help the firefighters and those being rescued, they can also cause injury if mishandled.
Ladders are the most used tool of firemen. Even those tools, which seem like a bigger version of one that you might find in a typical household, are dangerous enough that they are required to be trained on how to properly use them. A misuse of a ladder could cause injury to multiple fire officers and cause disaster for the whole operation. An axe, if not sharpened well enough, could delay a team of rescuers from entering a building.
Since these tools are important parts of a firefighter’s arsenal, you have to make sure that each one is in good shape before going into the field.
Information is also a strong and valuable weapon to have. Any first responder should know what risks they would have to face before being there so that they would know how to avoid them. What emergency are you responding to? What equipment should you wear and bring? What are the common injuries in that area and during this kind of emergency?
Firefighters are expected to be experts in their field, which means they should be the ones who know best about fires, hazards, destruction, rescue operations, and others.
By knowing the answers to those questions before deploying, you are already doing good safety practices. The information and preparedness would serve as an additional layer of protection for the firefighter in the field.
Firefighters face danger on the daily because it is part of their jobs. But good firefighter safety practices should help make sure that they still go home to their families. Remember that the action of one individual would affect the entire team, so being responsible is a team effort. Being safe is better than being careless.
If you are interested in getting high-quality apparel and equipment for firefighters, you may contact us directly or visit the store here on our website.
