scholarly journals Boots and Bugs: The Beginning of an Intervention for Firefighters

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. s143-s144
Author(s):  
Christine McGuire-Wolfe
Keyword(s):  
Bacterial Contamination ◽  
Fire Service ◽  
Living Environment ◽  
Emergency Medical Technicians ◽  
Emergency Medical ◽  
Fire Station ◽  
Fire Stations ◽  
Pasco County ◽  
Cleaning And Disinfection ◽  
Routine Cleaning

Background: Multiple studies have demonstrated that pathogens are present in both apparatus and stations within the fire service. Pasco County Fire Rescue’s (PCFR’s) 500+ firefighters routinely wear boots to trauma scenes and into patient’s residences and then into the dormitory and living areas of the fire stations. Pasco County Fire Rescue (PCFR) recently participated in a larger effort to identify the bacteria, yeast, and mold that firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and paramedics are exposed to on apparatuses and the station living environment during a typical shift. During these efforts to swab multiple touch points within apparatus (ambulances and engines) and common areas of the stations, firefighters’ boots were identified as a significant source of bacterial contamination. Methods: Swabs of 191 surfaces in 23 vehicles and 5 fire stations were collected, including 3 swabs from the bottom of firefighter boots. Results: Firefighter boots had the highest bacterial CFUs of all locations swabbed, with >900,000 and 378,000 CFUs per boot. Disinfection with a quaternary ammonium product sprayed through an electrostatic sprayer system effectively reduced the bacterial contamination on boots. Conclusions: PCFR recognizes firefighter boots as a critical vector of contamination between the environment encountered on emergency medical calls and the fire station environment and, as a result, has started a preliminary education campaign for agency firefighters regarding the need for regular boot disinfection. These efforts include regular submissions to the biweekly employee newsletter, as well as reminders on interoffice mailing envelopes (see example below) in hopes of increasing informal, self-directed boot cleaning and disinfection efforts. The next steps include verifying the effectiveness of specific disinfectant cleaners on boots; addressing logistical and practical barriers to routine cleaning and disinfection of boots; and developing, implementing, and evaluating a protocol for regular boot cleaning and disinfection.Funding: NoneDisclosures: None

scholarly journals Firefighters Fighting Germs - Evaluation of a Disinfecting Protocol for Use in the Fire Service

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. s519-s520
Author(s):  
Christine McGuire-Wolfe
Keyword(s):  
Fire Suppression ◽  
Fire Department ◽  
Fire Service ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Emergency Medical ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Microbiological Techniques ◽  
Fire Stations ◽  
Cleaning And Disinfection ◽  
The Impact

Background: Pasco County Fire Rescue (PCFR) is a rapidly growing suburban fire department located in Florida. PCFR employs >500 firefighters (all cross-trained as either emergency medical technicians or paramedics) in 27 stations to provide both emergency medical services (EMS) and fire suppression response. Although multiple studies have established that pathogens are present in both apparatus and stations within the fire service, there is a knowledge gap regarding the effectiveness of cleaning and disinfecting protocols in this specific setting. Methods: In total, 65 high-touch surfaces in 11 vehicles (ambulances and engines) and common areas of 2 fire stations were swabbed before and after disinfection. Vehicle surfaces swabbed included seats, cabinet doors, door handles, stretchers, medical equipment, keyboard, steering wheels, shared headsets and hand rails. Inside the stations, the refrigerator handle, television remote, radio and alarm buttons, door handles, and locker handles were swabbed. Immediately following the initial swab collection, the surfaces were disinfected with hydrogen peroxide wipes and disinfectant cleaner sprayed through an electrostatic system. The same surfaces were then swabbed after disinfection. Colony-forming units (CFUs) were quantified using standard microbiological techniques by a third-party laboratory. Statistical analysis was performed on the resulting bacterial counts using Minitab version 18.1 software. Results: We detected statistically significant decreases in total bacteria, yeast, and mold counts following implementation of this disinfection protocol. The predisinfection mean of bacteria, yeast, and mold counts for all surfaces combined was reduced 96% after disinfection (from 254,637 CFU to 9,392 CFU). Conclusions: Cleaning and disinfection of surfaces in PCFR emergency vehicles and fire station common areas with the agents described above effectively reduced contamination with bacteria, yeast, and mold spores. The PCFR has implemented this disinfection protocol as a tool in eliminating EMS vehicles and the station environment as reservoirs of infection for patients, visitors, and firefighters. Future efforts will include assessing the impact of regular cleaning and disinfection on baseline levels of bacteria, yeast, and mold spores.Funding: This study was supported by Clorox.Disclosures: None

Hierarchical siting of macro fire station and micro fire station

2020 ◽  
pp. 239980832095842
Author(s):  
Wenhao Yu ◽  
Yujie Chen ◽  
Menglin Guan
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Services ◽  
Service System ◽  
Cost Minimization ◽  
Optimization Methods ◽  
Fire Service ◽  
Specific Response ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Fire Station ◽  
Public Emergency ◽  
Fire Stations

With the rapid increase of city building density, public emergency service system for providing fire services faces increasing challenge in reducing the loss of lives and property, especially for the reduction of massive casualties in fire accidents. For obtaining a higher benefit from public service facilities, GIS-based techniques such as location optimization are commonly used. However, as a special facility, fire emergency facilities are quite particular in siting and providing services, and they have their unique demands including specific response time, benefit maximization, workload balancing and cost minimization; traditional optimization methods for fire facility siting are difficult to account for all of these objectives. Furthermore, the public emergency services agencies in China are implementing a plan to establish a hierarchical fire service system by siting fire stations with different capacities, and under this context, the general covering models with the same level of facilities are limited in their effectiveness. Therefore, this paper proposes a hierarchical covering model which takes into account the different characteristics of different levels of fire facilities (i.e. macro fire station and micro fire station). The case study of Nanjing city proves that our model is effective in practical applications of emergency services optimization.

scholarly journals Impact of Adjacency of Spaces in Fire Service Station on Fire Crew Response Time

2019 ◽  
pp. 521-535
Author(s):  
Ayoosu M. I ◽  
Lim Y. W
Keyword(s):  
Fire Service ◽  
Systematic Sampling ◽  
Late Response ◽  
Activity Spaces ◽  
The People ◽  
Fire Station ◽  
Timely Response ◽  
Fire Stations ◽  
In Fire ◽  
Fire Incidence

The fire has contributed positively to man development from time immemorial till today. But it also has its own negative aspect; people had lost virtually all they had in a single fire incidence including their life. It is in light of this negative side of fire that the fire service was established to prevent and extinguish fire and other emergencies that threaten the lives and properties of the people. These fire stations in Nigeria have challenges which result in late response to fire incidence and it is on this backdrop the research evolved. The research adopts an analytic approach; Systematic sampling was employed in choosing appropriate case study facilities. 36 questionnaires administered, 4 were not returned which forms about 11.1% of the total administered questionnaires. A total of 32 questionnaires were filled and returned forming 88.9% of the total administered questionnaires. A checklist was used to investigate the availability of essential activity spaces in the fire stations. Four stations were case studied. The data obtained were analysed using simple statistical method and results were presented in a simple descriptive tool (tables and figures). The research revealed that each Nigeria fire station lack one activity space or the other which is essential for a timely response like, dormitory, kitchen/dining space, day room, watchtower, etc. Beside activity spaces, adjacency of spaces is a lacking essential factor, time is lost in travelling from the gates of these fire stations to the watch room/dispatch during run-in calls, and time is also lost when firemen have to travel from different part of the station to the apparatus bay to respond to a fire call. The research then recommends the remodelling of the existing stations and a template for the design of sustainable on time fire station.

Fire Risk Analysis Using Geospatial Approach and Mitigation Measures for South-West Delhi

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (8) ◽  
pp. 131
Author(s):  
S. K. Tomar ◽  
A. Kaur ◽  
H. K. Dangi ◽  
T. Ghawana ◽  
K. Sarma
Keyword(s):  
Risk Analysis ◽  
Fire Risk ◽  
Population Data ◽  
Fire Service ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Fire Risk Analysis ◽  
South West ◽  
Geospatial Tools ◽  
Fire Stations

One of the major challenge from unplanned growth in the cities is the fire incidents posing a serious threat to life and property. Delhi, the capital city of India, has seen unplanned growth of colonies resulting in a serious concern for the relevant agencies. This paper investigates the relation between potential causes of fire incidents during 2013-2016 in South-West Delhi Division of Delhi Fire Services as part of risk analysis using the data about fire stations & their jurisdictions, incidents of fire, water reservoirs available, landuse and population data along with the divisional & sub-divisional boundaries of South-West Delhi division under Delhi Fire Service. Statistical and Geospatial tools have been used together to perform the risk analysis. The analysis reveals that difference in actual occupancy and defined landuse as a part of unplanned growth of settlements is found to be the main reason behind the major fire incidents. The suggested mitigation measures focus on legal, policy, physical & technological aspects and highlight the need to bring the systemic changes with changing scenario of demographics and infrastructure to accommodate more aspects of ground reality.

scholarly journals Prehospital emergency medical technicians can perform ultrasonography and blood analysis in prehospital evaluation of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a feasibility study

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Giti Nadim ◽  
Christian B. Laursen ◽  
Pia I. Pietersen ◽  
Daniel Wittrock ◽  
Michael K. Sørensen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ◽  
Pulmonary Disease ◽  
Respiratory Insufficiency ◽  
Emergency Departments ◽  
Emergency Medical Technicians ◽  
Chronic Obstructive ◽  
Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ◽  
Emergency Medical ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Release Strategy

Abstract Introduction Crowding of the emergency departments is an increasing problem. Many patients with an exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are often treated in the emergency departments for a very short period before discharged to their homes. It is possible that this treatment could take place in the patients’ homes with sufficient diagnostics supporting the treatment. In an effort to keep the diagnostics and treatment of some of these patients in their homes and thus to reduce the patient load at the emergency departments, we implemented a prehospital treat-and-release strategy based on ultrasonography and blood testing performed by emergency medical technicians (EMT) or paramedics (PM) in patients with acute exacerbation of COPD. Method EMTs and PMs were enrolled in a six-hour educational program covering ultrasonography of the lungs and point of care blood tests. During the seasonal peak of COPD exacerbations (October 2018 – May 2019) all patients who were treated by the ambulance crews for respiratory insufficiency were screened in the ambulances. If the patient had uncomplicated COPD not requiring immediate transport to the hospital, ultrasonographic examination of the lungs, measurements of C-reactive protein and venous blood gases analyses were performed. The response to the initial treatment and the results obtained were discussed via telemedical consultation with a prehospital anaesthesiologist who then decided to either release the patient at the scene or to have the patient transported to the hospital. The primary outcome was strategy feasibility. Results We included 100 EMTs and PMs in the study. During the study period, 771 patients with respiratory insufficiency were screened. Uncomplicated COPD was rare as only 41patients were treated according to the treat-and-release strategy. Twenty of these patients (49%) were released at the scene. In further ten patients, technical problems were encountered hindering release at the scene. Conclusion In a few selected patients with suspected acute exacerbations of COPD, it was technically and organisationally feasible for EMTs and PMs to perform prehospital POCT-ultrasound and laboratory testing and release the patients following treatment. None of the patients released at the scene requested a secondary ambulance within the first 48 h following the intervention.

Bacterial Contamination of Pressurized Inhalers

1984 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 735-737 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine A. Levesque ◽  
Cary E. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Drug Delivery ◽  
Bacterial Growth ◽  
Bacterial Contamination ◽  
Pediatric Patients ◽  
Routine Cleaning

The objective of this project was to determine the incidence, location, and potential transmission of bacteria from pressurized inhalers contaminated during normal use by pediatric patients. Patients' inhaler usage and cleaning patterns also were evaluated. Fifteen inhalers from 12 children were cultured at three separate sites: the mouthpiece, spray portal, and the spray itself. The patient and/or parent were interviewed to determine usage and cleaning patterns. No bacterial growth was found from any of the cultured sites or aerosol of the control inhalers. All of the mouthpieces and portals of the patient-used inhalers were positive for growth, which is significant (p < 0.01). One patient-used inhaler was positive for bacterial growth from the aerosol, which is not significant (p > 0.05). These results demonstrate that despite inhaler contamination, bacteria are not significantly transmitted by the aerosol. Routine cleaning of inhalers to remove accumulated debris is recommended to prevent disruption of drug delivery.

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