How to Survive When Surprised By Exposure to Toxic Atmosphere
You are responding on your engine to a report of a tanker overturned on a busy highway. You can see the truck lying on its side as your company approaches the scene.
Your eyes begin watering heavily and your breathing becomes more and more labored as your engine comes to a stop near the tanker. Unexpectedly, your next breath rips at your throat and lungs and suddenly you become dizzy. What you do at this instant will mean life or death to you. In failing to realize that you are being exposed to toxic chemical fumes leaking from the ruptured tank, you will gasp for more air and fall unconscious.
If you are lucky, you may wake up later in the intensive care unit of a hospital with possible permanent damage to your respiratory system. On the other hand, you could be dead on arrival. Either way, you will become another statistic.
Chlorine incident
In the Orlando metropolitan area alone, at least two such incidents have occurred. The first was a leaking chlorine tank at a campground. Several fire fighters in the initial response were overcome, and several more were required to care for their fallen comrades. As if this were not enough, while transporting the injured men to the hospital, some of the ambulance attendants, who were also fire fighters, were overcome by fumes seeping from the clothing of the previous victims.
In the second incident, the entire first-in engine company was rendered helpless after they unknowingly drove into toxic fumes.
Response to alarms with limited information is commonplace and is rarely the fault of the dispatcher. Few persons reporting a chemical leak can be relied upon to have sufficient knowledge to give the fire department a warning of what lies ahead.
The answer to the problem is awareness. If the fire fighter knows what lies ahead, he will know that breathing apparatus is necessary. If he doesn’t and unexpectedly finds himself in a deadly cloud of gas, then he must be able to recognize the problem and act immediately to save himself and be of service to others.
How to be prepared
There are a few things that you can do to prepare.
First, every fire fighter should be able to recognize and know the meaning of the United States Department of Transportation hazardous materials placards. These may be your first warning that toxic gas is present.
Second, learn to recognize the early symptoms of gas poisoning. Expect that you are in a toxic atmosphere if your breathing becomes labored, if your skin or throat and lungs begin burning, if your eyes begin watering or if you become dizzy. These symptoms are sudden.
Third, know what you should do as soon as you suspect that you are in a toxic atmosphere. We can all hold our breath for a minute or so if we have the time to take a deep breath or two beforehand, but in this instance, the deep breath, or for that matter any breath, could kill you. You will be able to hold your breath for a few seconds at the most, depending on your physical condition, so time is vital.
Do not take another breath, go immediately to your breathing apparatus and turn the cylinder control valve on. If your facepiece and low pressure tube are carried connected to the demand regulator, disconnect the tube immediately. Do not attempt to don your facepiece. It is impossible to check for a proper seal without breathing, and a bad seal will cause you to breathe contaminated air.
Air from regulator
Without removing the breathing apparatus from its position, place your mouth tightly over the breathing tube connection on the demand regulator and breathe through your mouth. Then exhale through your nose without removing your mouth from the connection. Continue breathing in this manner until your breathing stabilizes. Then hold your breath again and remove the breathing apparatus from the truck.
Loop the shoulder strap on the regulator side of the harness over your left shoulder as though you were donning the equipment completely. This should place the regulator close to your face so you can resume breathing through the low pressure tube connection.
Without taking the time to don the apparatus correctly, leave the area of the vapor cloud, continuing to breathe directly from the regulator. Be sure to take your facepiece with you. If you are partially overcome by the fumes, do not reenter the area. Seek medical attention immediately.
Additional protection
If there is any indication that the gas may be an irritant, capable of poisoning through the skin, such as ammonia, acid gases, and radioactive contaminants, you must not reenter the area without further protection. If not, and you are absolutely sure that you are clear of the gas cloud, you can now don your breathing apparatus properly. If you have performed this evolution correctly, you should be ready to reenter the danger area and perform needed rescue operations.
You must continuously be aware of the fact that toxic gas may be found on any alarm to which you respond. You must keep in mind that toxic gases are released not only from containers by accident, but may be generated from the action of acids or water on cyanides, sulfides and phosphides. They also may be found when halogenated hydrocarbons are exposed to high temperatures as when freon refrigerants are decomposed to form hydrochloric acid, chlorine, phosgene, etc.
Train yourself to recognize not only the DOT shipping labels, but the symptoms of gas poisoning. Practice what to do if you encounter toxic gas and learn as much as you can about where you may expect to find it. Awareness is the key and realizing that you are in a toxic atmosphere is the answer to preventing injury or death.
