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Chris Mc Loone |
I often like to look back on the way things were when I joined the fire company in 1993 and the way they are now.
Sometimes I get crotchety and lament the changes that have occurred over the years, and other times I am impressed by our consistency and stability over time. One thing that hasn’t changed is the fire company’s commitment to outfitting its firefighters with personal protective equipment (PPE) that is compliant with the most current National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards. Looking back, I was only in “loaner” gear for a relatively short period of time before being upgraded to brand new gear. You could always tell who the Weldon rookies were back then because we all had black gear while the rest of the fire company had tan turnout gear. Today, a required part of our PPE ensemble when going to Firefigher I is a Nomex hood. Back then though, helmet ear flaps were considered sufficient protection. I learned all about letting your ears warn you of an impending flashover. Back then, our hoods were there to protect us from burns. They covered areas we couldn’t cover with helmet ear flaps or putting up our collars. They’ve remained relatively unchanged through the years. That began to change last year.
As PPE manufacturers have continued to innovate our turnout gear, Nomex hood design has remained the same for the most part. Coverage areas might be different from hood to hood. And, what were once only one color are now available in a variety of colors. But, we began to see an evolution in these hoods last year at FDIC International 2016 when new hoods, then coined “barrier hoods,” came to the market. These hoods not only protect wearers from burns, but now they are also filtering out harmful carcinogenic particulates. The number of companies offering these types of hoods increased this year.
I recently returned from the Fire Industry Education Research Organization (F.I.E.R.O.) PPE Symposium, and these hoods dominated much of the conversation. Discussion regarding putting some sort of barrier in the hood to repel carcinogens began in 2013. Development for these new types of hoods was rapid, with prototypes designed and ultimately products brought to the market. This year, the NFPA gets into the hood arena with the newest edition of NFPA 1971, Standard on Protective Ensembles for Structural Fire Fighting and Proximity Fire Fighting. Contained therein will be criteria for barrier hoods, or particulate blocking hoods. With the 2018 edition of NPFA 1971 expected to be issued this month, new test methods and criteria will be used to define a particulate blocking hood. Keep in mind, particulate blocking hoods are optional components of the overall PPE ensemble. That said, if your department does choose to invest in these hoods, the hoods must still meet ordinary hood requirements.
So, what can we expect this month with the new version and what is yet to come? These hoods are in their infancy. NFPA 1971 (2018 ed.) will establish requirements for particulate blocking hoods to be compliant with the standard. There is still much work and research to be done on these hoods to ensure their barrier properties do not impact a firefighter’s thermal awareness. Additionally, questions remain about the durability of the barriers as well as how effectively the hoods can be cleaned. With NFPA 1971 being released this month, expect compliant hoods to be available within three to six months.
Although particulate barrier blocking hoods were discussed at length during the symposium, they were but a s