By John Czajkowski
On the vehicle extrication scene, the most important aspect of personal safety remains the personal protective equipment (PPE) we wear. For most of us, the agency we work with dictates the standard protection we wear during a call. This, coupled with adaptation for the extent of the hazards present, defines the appropriate protection.
What is appropriate personal protective equipment for vehicle extrication incidents? For the most part it includes head, eye, hand, foot and body protection. We also need to provide respiratory and hearing protection.
Head protection for personnel should be an approved fire or rescue service helmet, provided by your agency. It should fit snug and comfortable, held in place with the chin strap.
Minimum eye protection might be a face shield attached to the helmet. For best eye protection, rescuers should also wear approved impact-resistant safety glasses or goggles.
Hand protection should be approved fire service gloves. Some controversy remains on this issue. For best protection against glass, jagged metal edges and fire, we should wear fire service gloves. However, some argue for the benefit of rescue gloves that provide safer finger flexibility when using rescue tools.
Foot protection should include boots that provide hard toe cover and protection from the elements and hard toe cover. They should have steel toes to protect against heavy objects.
Another controversial aspect of PPE for extrication is body protection. Most fire service agencies require structural firefighting coats and pants. These do provide optimum protection against glass, jagged metal edges and fire. However, they have their drawbacks. They are hot during summer months and, to a certain extent, restrict rescuer movement. Also, some rescue agencies may not provide this type gear to their personnel. Some fire and rescue agencies allow personnel to wear full jump suits in place of structural fire fighting gear. If this is the case in your department, the jump suit must have long sleeves and made of material that will provide the same protection against glass, jagged edges and fire as structural firefighting gear.
Unfortunately, we all have lapses when it comes to wearing the PPE at the appropriate time. Perhaps over the course of our careers we repeatedly don our full PPE on every vehicle crash call, only to pull it off after we arrive and find no hazards present. Peer pressure from others in the crew who don’t wear their gear remains another factor that acts against PPE. Follow your common sense and wear the gear required by your agency, then appropriately add to it or reduce it as the situation dictates.
If an accident happens on the emergency scene, give yourself the best chance of survival by wearing the best possible protection. It’s really your choice.
About the Author
John Czajkowski, company officer, Orange County Fire/Rescue Division, Orlando, Fla., has more than 30 years of fire-service experience. He serves as vice president of Transportation Rescue Consultants Inc., Orlando, Fla., a company dedicated to providing vehicle-rescue training materials, including the CARBUSTERS video extrication series, Vehicle Extrication: A Training Manual and the video training series FIRST DUE!
A charter member of the International Association of Fire Chief’s Transportation Emergency Rescue Committee, Czajkowski co-received the IAFC Harvey Grant Award for Rescue in 1996. He assisted in developing the TERC’s Safety Guidelines for vehicle rescue training.
