If you were going to put your life on the line and your safety was incumbent on both your judgment and how well your protective gear was designed, then you would have no qualms about making sure that your PPE was the best possible.
Most firefighters cannot choose the exact gear they wear; that’s a decision made by department officials. In some cases, a fire department will go through a relatively detailed process of hazard and risk assessment, field trials, and product examination.
At the other extreme, some departments may simply buy what is least expensive based on a limited budget and a general assumption that all gear meeting NFPA 1971 should be adequate for minimal protection.
One important choice
Even if the turnout gear has been selected for you, you do have one important choice — how your gear fits. There is a definite relationship between PPE fit and protection.
PPE is designed to provide protection against hazards on the fireground and those encountered in other types of emergencies. The ability of the clothing and equipment to protect you depends on how well it fits on your body as well as how the fit of the clothing and equipment affect your ability to respond.
Clothing that fits too tightly will lessen protection and restrict movement, requiring more energy to undertake required tasks. Restrictive gear will increase the propensity for heat stress and associated ailments. In addition, clothing that fits too tightly will eliminate some of its protective capabilities by reducing the air layers that enhance the clothing’s thermal insulation.
Similarly clothing and equipment that is too loose will hobble your movement, leading to increased physical stress. A loose SCBA facepiece will not provide positive pressure from respiratory hazards. Loose clothing items like helmets, gloves and footwear may inhibit movement, affect your orientation and make you more likely to sustain injuries.
Size ranges
The National Fire Protection Association standards require manufacturers provide coats in both male and female sizing with chest circumference increments of 2 inches and sleeve length increments of 1 inch over a relatively large range of common sizes. Similarly, pants must be provided in sizes with waist circumferences and inseam lengths in 1-inch increments for both men and women.
This sizing system applies to what is considered stock gear. In actuality, nearly all manufacturers and many departments go through a more detailed approach, custom building gear to fit the dimensions of each firefighter.
Other clothing and equipment items must also meet minimum sizing requirements. Firefighter gloves must be offered in seven different sizes ranging from XXS to XXL. Footwear must be provided in both men’s and women’s sizing with men’s sizes ranging from 5 to 16 and women’s sizes spanning 5 to 10. All footwear must be offered in half sizes and in a minimum of three widths for each gender.
The protective hood is the only component that is not required to be adjustable or provided in multiple sizes, although some manufacturers do offer more than one size. SCBA facepieces are also generally offered in two or three different sizes to provide a good face-to-respirator seal.
Off the rack
At times the original gear provided to the firefighter simply does not fit for variety of reasons. In some cases, fire departments may buy stock gear based on their expectations of what size might fit best. This is a poor approach since indicated sizes of gear may not coincide with an individual’s normal perception of the required sizing.
Another common occurrence is that gear issued individuals is reissued to other individuals without any tailoring to ensure correct sizing. Under these circumstances, the firefighters are generally asked to pick out what fits best.
Since there are a number of other dimensions that go into sizing clothing other than the common measurements of chest size and sleeve length for coats or waist circumference and inseam for pants, this practice also does not always yield favorable results.
Even when custom clothing is provided, mistakes can be made and body size can change between the time of the measurements and some point thereafter.
Determining fit
One of the problems is that firefighters simply do not know how their gear should fit. NFPA 1500, which is the standard for fire department occupational safety and health program, specifies that firefighters should put on their coat and pants and go through two different movements to ensure that the coat and pants overlap by at least 2 inches in all three layers while in different orientations.
This includes reaching overhead and then bending forward and side to side (without wearing an SCBA). While this set of procedures is useful for ensuring appropriate coat-pant overlap, it does not address all aspects of fit. The best practices for determining if a firefighter has the correct size is to undertake dynamic fit testing.
Dynamic fit testing involves putting on clothing and equipment and going through a series of actions that will help firefighters determine how the clothing fits their body and the potential for how it may impede specific response activity. For example, certainly clothing may feel comfortable when the firefighter is in a standing position. Yet if she sits down and feels bunching or strain from the coat or pants, this may be an indication an improper fit.
Likewise, you crawl, duck-walk or change your orientation, your pants may not stay over your boots and other portions of the clothing may not remain in place to provide complete coverage of your body. You may also note excessive strain or tension that would be indicative of poorly fitted gear.
Developing the test
Every fire department should develop a dynamic fit test to ensure new gear is properly issued and that old gear still fits correctly. The best way develop a dynamic fit test is to consider types of training exercises the firefighters go through and how their gear responds to a variety of orientations and response activities.
The fit test should include a variety of actions like reaching, stretching, bending, crawling, walking, sitting and any other orientation firefighters expect to find themselves in during an emergency.
In addition, it is important that when dynamic fit testing is performed, all items of the ensemble including SCBA, gloves, footwear, and any tools be employed as this is the way that firefighter will expect to wear their ensemble. By identifying any ill-fitting effects on their functionality, firefighters can make recommendations about their gear and determine what does properly fit.
It is likely that new technology in the future will enable better fitting gear. Body scanners and other devices can translate individual dimensions into clothing patterns or at least assess best-fitting products when coupled with sophisticated software.
For the time being, firefighters should make the one good choice they can by insisting that their gear fit properly by evaluating its fit during a series of field-relevant actions. Sizing and fit truly matter when it comes to personal protective equipment.
