Wellness & Health of Emergency Responders
Chief Rich Solomon of Sable Altura Fire Rescue is focusing on several projects to improve the wellness and health of his staff and emergency responders. Cancer continues to be a leading cause of death for fire emergency responders.
Over the years, the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) has continued its focus on funding research and sharing information on the health hazards and risks of smoke, harmful particulates, and exhaust that is absorbed into the body of fire fighters and emergency responders while on scene and at the fire station as well.
Chief Solomon has prioritized several initiatives to better protect his team’s health; however, he needed a solution that would work to eliminate harmful chemical exposure at the fire station and on the scene of a fire as well.
NO SMOKE Accomplishes Wellness Initiatives
“With some of the challenges and costs of a station-mounted exhaust system for our particular building, the value seemed to truly present itself when we looked at a filtration system that accompanied the vehicle itself. Exhaust in our bays is a problem for sure, but the problem doesn’t go away when the vehicles actually go to work,” said Chief Solomon.
Chief Solomon turned to the Ward Diesel NO SMOKE system to meet his health initiative goals. The NO SMOKE system is an apparatus-mounted, diesel exhaust capture system that automatically filters and captures harmful fumes. The NO SMOKE system continues to operate any time the engine is running, eliminating dangerous fumes on the scene of a fire, idling in a fire station, or backing in when returning to a fire station.
Photo via https://www.facebook.com/sablealturafire
“Mitigating our hazard exposures both at home, and on scene is important and is a focus of all exposure initiatives. The Ward NO SMOKE system helps us get closer to accomplishing the important goals, to help protect our most important resource,” Chief Solomon continued.