DISPATCHES
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Communicable diseases: a spreading concern
The U.S. Fire Administration held its 1989 “Forum on Communicable Diseases” to address rising concerns about the diseases’ impact on the fire service and other emergency rescuers. Participants included fire service executives, emergency physicians, legal experts, infection control consultants, and representatives from other federal agencies.
One discussion focused on the reporting and tracking of expected exposures, according to Roger lanahan, assistant administrator in charge of the Division of Firefighter Health and Safety at the USFA. “If you do not properly document exposures and then you test HIV-positive a year from now, you’ll have a tough time proving you were exposed on the job,” Lanahan says. He considers tracking an all-important mechanism for workers’ compensation claims. One of the forum’s recommendations calls for the establishment of a model program for reporting and tracking that includes the following elements: personal protective equipment, postexposure management, proper equipment and facility design, and other requirements of applicable federal regulations.
Attention also centered on prevention in the form of Hepatitis B vaccines. “This is a simple step firefighters can take, but the question is who is going to pay the $130 for three shots? OSHA says the employers should pay, but many communities, especially the ones with volunteer departments, are poor,” Lanahan explains. He cites the example of volunteer EMTs in Emmitsburg, Maryland who are not protected because they cannot afford the shots. “What if a town can’t afford to provide vaccinations?” he adds. “They can’t afford not to. While it may cost them $130 for vaccines, it may cost them thousands in care of infected employees or in court settlements when employees sue claiming inadequate protection.”
The forum recommended both last year, at its first meeting, and this year that the National Fire Academy develop a field training program to address infection control protocols/concerns. It has also urged the DOT both years to rework its courses to include infectious diseases. However, Lanahan points out, the forum can only make the recommendations to the NFA and the DOT—it has no leverage to make the agencies act on those recommendations.
A number of suggestions were made as to how to increase on-the-job safety in general. One way is by wearing surgical gloves. “The problem is getting rescuers to put them on,” Lanahan explains. He tells of firefighters searching a tenement in New York City’s Harlem section who were wearing heavy structural gloves. They came upon a bleeding victim but didn’t have the time to remove the structural gloves to put surgical gloves on underneath. “Structural gloves are no protection against blood-borne viruses,” he adds.
The participants raised ethical and legal issues surrounding communicable diseases. “For example, once firefighters and EMTs are trained, they cannot refuse to treat anybody,” according to Lanahan. Also, they must assume that everybody they treat is a potential source of infection and they must observe universal precautions. In some cases, people might seek immunization from a private doctor. If they become infected, the question arises as to if they were properly monitored during the immunization process and who should have to pay for treatment.
Lanahan is confident that the recommendations will eventually be met. Most of last year’s recommendations were or are being addressed.
Updating standards for extinguishers
Underwriters Laboratories Inc. is proposing updated safety standards for foam (UL 8), carbon dioxide (UL 154), dry chemical (UL 299), 2 1/2-gallon stored-pressure water-type (UL 626), and halogenated agent (UL 1093) fire extinguishers, as well as for the rating and fire testing of fire extinguishers (UL 711).
“Every five years, per American National Standards Institute (ANSI) procedures, the standards are reviewed regardless of whether there are changes,” explains Bill Bird, senior engineering associate in the Standards Department at UL. If there are no changes, ANSI publishes identical standards.
UL 1093 is the only standard that received a major overhaul because of the controversy surrounding halon and its effect on the ozone layer, says Bird. Since halon is a necessary extinguishing agent for computer rooms, among its other uses, the standard would alter the testing procedure.
Other changes include requirements covering sizes of fill openings, leakage test for gauges and indicators, putting year of manufacture on extinguisher shell or nameplate, weighing cartridge annually, requirements for lettering height, and code symbols.
While the deadline for comments has passed, you can obtain a copy of the proposed updated standards that are currently being reviewed by ANSI by writing Bill Bird, UL, 333 Pfingsten Road, Northbrook, IL. 60062-2096 or calling (312) 272-8800, ext. 2501.
Since most of the revisions are minor, Bird estimates that ANSI will approve the standards by December of this year. The actual standards will be out in March 1990 at the earliest.
Council votes to cease
The Joint Council of National Fire Service Organizations has voted to disband, probably by the end of this year.
The council, formed in 1970 as a forum for national fire service organizations to discuss issues affecting them and to work toward improving fire protection throughout the country, passed a resolution stating that “much or all of the work of the Joint Council was completed or can be completed by individual organizations,” according to current chairman E. James Monihan, chairman of the National Volunteer Fire Council.
“In the council’s 20-year history, the participating organizations have developed a considerable degree of sophistication. They have helped in the establishment of federal programs and developed a point of input they never had before,” Monihan says. The decision to disband came as no surprise to members—they have been discussing it for more than a year.
The council oversees the National Professional Qualifications Board, the certifying board for fire service training. The board will continue to function, and a committee is currently meeting to work out the details.
Civilian death toll remains high
In 1988, 6,215 people lost their lives in fires in the United States (excluding line-of-duty firefighter deaths)—the highest death toll since 1981 and a seven percent increase over 1987 deaths, according to the National Fire Protection Association.
Other findings:
- Four out of every five fire deaths occur in homes; the rest are mostly in highway vehicle fires.
- Nearly one-third of all home fire deaths involve the careless handling of a lighted cigarette.
- Nearly one in five homes has no smoke detector; these homes account for more than three-fifths of home fires.
- One in three homes with detectors has detectors that don’t work, mainly because of dead or missing batteries.
Groups particularly at risk from fire include preschool children, the elderly, and the poor. The death rates for these groups have risen for a number of reasons, according to the NFPA: They sometimes have difficulty understanding firesafe behavior, they may have difficulty affording safe products or places to live, or they may live in an environment that isolates them both mentally and physically from conventional methods of fire prevention education.
This past year also saw an increase in wildfires. This is linked to weather patterns, according to John Hall, director of fire analysis and research at the NFPA. “Wildfires are one of the few fire sources dependent on the larger physical environment,” he explains. “The greenhouse effect (warming trend) manifests itself in wildfires.”
From 1986 to 1988, the total number of reported U.S. fires rose by 165,000— from 2,271,500 to 2,436,500. Hall attributes the 1988 figures to a tapering off of different kinds of fire protection initiatives such as the rapid growth of smoke detector use and the development of fire-safe cigarette legislation. “Programs that would have a visible impact on the death rate have leveled off,” he adds. “We aren’t in the midst of implementing something major—we have to get something going again.”
Awards recognize a job well-done
The Congressional Fire Services Institute has formed an awards program in which members of Congress recognize individuals and groups who perform a notable community service.
To nominate an individual, send a letter to your congressional representative explaining why the individual should be honored. Representatives will forward all nominations to the CFSI. Staff members there will choose from the applications and mail the certificates back to Congress to be awarded personally. Included with each certificate is a press release that recipients can send out to local media publicizing the honor.
Awards are available in the following categories.
- Community service—a special contribution during a specific time and place (such as taking victims of fire into your home).
- Heroism—courage and bravery in saving a life endangered during a fire or emergency.
- Length of service— those who have served a minimum of 10 years.
- Special event— an event that contributes to the improvement of fire safety (such as writing a book).
“We wanted to channel the program through members of Congress to heighten their awareness of local fire service personnel,” explains Bill Jenaway, director of external affairs at CFSI. So far more than 40 certificates have been issued.
