Air Permeable Versus Impermeable PPE - Operational Considerations of First Responder Unit - Essay Example

Name: College: Course: Tutor: Date: Air permeable versus impermeable PPE – operational considerations of first responder unit 1.0 Introduction Air is an environmental element that can be hazardous if it contains elements that can injure the body or even present infection that would influence the body functions injuriously. During natural calamities and manmade disasters, the quality of air can influence the success of the efforts of first responders at the scene of the event. Personal protective equipment (PPEs) serve to protect the individual acting as a first responder by ensuring that such an individual would act to perform effectively rescue activities while at the same time guarding against injuring oneself in the process (National Institute of Justice 6). Indeed, many of the hazards encountered by first responders include those that would injure their bodies due to air borne dangers. As such, availing personal protective equipment that is specific to the dangers presented by the air in which the first responders would encounter is pertinent for not only ensuring that they would proffer effective response but also guaranteeing that during the response, their safety remains assured (Health and Safety Executive 3). Airborne hazards and approaches to combat them through effective personal protective equipment are well studied and standards have been developed, which help discriminate when air permeable and air impermeable personal protective equipment would be required. The ensuing discussion interrogates the various air permeable and air impermeable personal protective equipment and shed light into the considerations of air permeability regarding personal protective equipment that would be pertinent to the operations of first responders. The discussion begins by explaining who the first responders are and the dangers and hazards they encounter that would necessitate their use of persona protection equipment. Then an explanation to enhance the understanding of personal protective equipment in terms of their air permeability and the hazards that such equipment is designed to manage, is provided. Thereafter, the discussion digresses into the available air permeable and air impermeable personal protective equipment and exactly which elements in the air from which they protect their users. Ultimately, the discussion focuses on the aspects of personal protective equipment the first responders need to consider when dealing with air related hazards to ensure that their first responses are not only effective but also that they are not injurious to their selves. Indeed, this discussion is cognizant that first responders are associated with organizations, whose responsiveness is guided by operational standards that are aimed at ensuring that the rescuers saves as much human lives and personal property as may be possible without endangering their own selves in the process. 2.0 First responders and hazards they encounter 2.1 First responders First responders are individuals of groups of individuals that arrive first at a place in which a calamity, a disaster or an accident has occurred, which may be natural or man-made. They are the first people who provide emergency services in response to such events and occurrences. According to the Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD-8) in the United States, a first responder is an individual who is responsible in the early stages of an occurrence, for protecting and preserving property, life, evidence and the environment before highly skilled personal take over the disaster response services. While many first responders are found in service organizations such the police department, the firefighting department and the medical services whereby they are equipped with first response knowledge and equipment, others may be individual volunteers who may or may not have knowledge and skills regarding initial response and who may have or not have equipment to facilitate their response activities. Many first undergo training to equip them with response skills that would enable them to manage different kinds of emergencies that occur suddenly, after which they attain certification. Therefore, various certifications are available to first responders depending with the nature of emergency they facilitate. As such, medical responders are often certified as Emergency Medical Responder (EMR), emergency medical technician (EMT) and paramedics. These professional are trained in basic life support (BLS), cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), advanced trauma life support (ATLS), advanced cardiac life support ACLS), and acute care of at-risk newborns (ACoRN) among many others (uOttawa 4). 3.0 Air permeability Air permeability is the ability to pass the various components of air through a semi-pervious membrane or barrier. Indeed, components of air can be polluted with aggravating constituents due to pollution and other calamities endanger human operations such as regular breathing and at worst, present health hazards to the individual exposed to such polluted air. in this context, air permeability addresses the ability of a barrier to discriminate between which component of the air can pass though it and which component would be blocked depending on the criteria of permeability for which the barrier has been designed (Faccini, Vaquero and Amantia 2). In the context of hazardous occurrences, the criteria for air permeability is based on which component of air are hazardous and which are not, which forms the basis of discriminating between the two depending on their influence in the wellbeing of the first responder. 2.2 Hazards experienced by first responders First responders have to contend with various hazards, which are dependent on the type of hazard encounter. Hazards can be categorized as mechanical hazards, electrical hazards, chemical hazards, light hazards and audio hazards. Indeed, hazards can harm the body through various routes of exposure such as eye contact, ear contact, oral contact, skin contact and inhalation. Mechanical hazards include physical object that can harm the body on impact such as falling object, solid objects that are scattered by an explosion and solid objects that are flowing along the ground surface. Electrical hazards include electric shocks and discharges from highly charged objects. Chemical hazards include gases that are foul smelling, gases that are harmful to the skin when toughed, and gases that are harmful to the body when inhaled. Light hazards bright lights or any electromagnetic waves that would harm the eyes. Audio hazards are high or low sounds and any other electromagnetic waves that would be harmful to the ears and the body as well. In addition, the time of exposure to the hazards can influence the adverse effects that the hazard would present to the body of the victim and the responder as well. Often, long exposure to a hazard increases its harmful effect, and thus it is pertinent to reduce the time of exposure as much as possible to prevent of keep at a minimum the adverse effects. 2.1 Hazards associated to air permeability To the first responder in any calamity of hazardous situation, numerous airborne hazards prevail, all of which may not only have an adverse effect on the respiratory tract of the individual but can also have far-reaching health consequences as well. Indeed, numerous airborne hazards exist and can range from obnoxious and bad smelling air to air that transmits diseases and injures body organs at its wake (Irzmańska and Brochocka 36). Indeed, any of the hazards able to permeate through air presents dangers, which means that hazards that can be aerosolized, are able to permeate thought air with adverse effects, particularly when no appropriate preventative barrier is availed. 3.0 Personal protective equipment Personal protective equipments are a variety of equipment and clothing that provide protection against infection or injury to the body of the user. Such equipment offer protection against particulate matter that is airborne, biohazards, chemicals, heat, electricity, and other physical hazards. The personal protective equipment provide additional protection when administrative controls and engineering controls are not either effective or feasible in providing sufficient reduction of risk to counter occupational hazards to acceptable levels. As such, personal protective equipment aim at providing a protective barrier between an individual and his or her environment of work, thus ensuring that there is a minimum impairment of the ability to perform such work while providing sufficient comfort as well. The various types of personal protective equipment that can be employed by first responders include protective clothing, respirators, equipment that offer skin protection, equipment that provide eye protection and equipment that offer auditory protection (Schier and Hoffman 285). Each of these types of personal protective equipment should conform to standards that have been developed internationally, national, or within professional disciplines. 3.1 Protective clothing Protective clothing are garments that are designed for form a protective barrier between the first responder and the environment in which a calamity or accident has occurred. Protective clothing range from suits that protect the whole body to items of clothing worn to protect particular parts of the human body of the first responder such as the head, face, hands, feet and other selected parts of the body. Figure 1 illustrates a protective clothing that is used to protect the while body of a first responder while figure 2 shows gloves that are used to protect the hands of a first responder. Figure 1. Full body protective clothing Source: Burnett (4) Figure 2. Gloves for protecting the hands of a first responder Source: Burnett (15) 3.1.1 Respirators Respirators are gadgets that are designed to protect the respiratory system of the first responder against gaseous and particulate matter that is harmful. Respirators are often worn on the mouth, the nose or both. Respirators are categorized as air purifying respirators (APR), which means that they purify the air in the environment and make it breathable by the first responder. These are further categorized as half face air purifying respirators, full face APRs and powered APRs (PAPRSs) (NIOSH 1). Basically, air-purifying respirators fitted cartridges that can prevent different types of hazards from reaching the respiratory system of the wearer. For instance, they can be fitted with a filter for preventing organic vapor, for preventing both organ gases and acidic gases, and for preventing particulate matter of various sizes in addition from blocking obnoxious and harmful gases. As such, different filters are designed from different gaseous hazards and are often fitted with an end of service life indicator (ESLI) that indicates when the filter is no longer effective. The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health in the United States has come up with classifications of filters, which indicate the efficiency of the filter and the type of hazard its keeps away from the user. Table 1 illustrates come of those classes and their efficiencies. Table 1. Selected filter classes for air purifying respirators Filter class Filter efficiency N95 Can filter at least 95 % of particulates that are airborne. It is not oil resistant N100 Can filter at least 99.97 % of particulates that are airborne. It is not oil resistant R95 Can filter at least 95 % of particulates that are airborne. Offers some oil resistance P100 Can filter at least 99.97 % of particulates that are airborne. Offers strong oil resistance Source: Hasbrouck 3 Respirators can also be categorized as air supply respirators, meaning that they provide the responder with air from a production source or container that is not connected to the environment in which the first responder is operating. Air supply respirators can further be classified as airline respirators that supply breathable air to the responder from a remote location, or as self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) whereby the breathing apparatus and the air supply are portable and thus carried by the first responder. Figure 3 illustrates a self-contained breathing apparatus, which provides breathable air from a canister thus protecting the respiratory system of a first responder. Figure 3. A self-contained breathing apparatus Source: Burnett (23) 3.1.2 Equipment for protecting eyes Equipments that are designed to protect the eyes of the first responder from harmful light, gases and particulate matter include goggles. Figure 3 illustrates and example of goggles that are used to protect the eyes of a first responder. Figure 3. Goggles for protecting the eyes of a first responder Source: Burnett (21) 3.1.3 Equipment for protecting the ears Equipment that are designed to protect the ears of first responders from high sounds, gases and particulate objects include earmuffs and other contraptions designed to cover the ears. 3.2 Air permeable PPEs Air permeable personal protective equipment are protective equipment that protect an individual in a work situation in which aerial hazards exist. As such, Air permeable personal protective equipment should conform to occupational safety and health (OSH) standards aimed at reducing the risk and threats of aerial hazards that could lead to ill health, injury, or fatalities at worst. For personal protective equipment air permeable, they need to allow the healthy components of air to pass through them thus allowing respiration to be facilitated by filtered air components. Specifically, such equipment do not block out air but instead filter it to rid it of harmful components. The permeability of protective clothing used in emergency responses is measured using the ventilation rate (Havenith, Hartog and Martini 6). 3.2 Air impermeable PPEs Air impermeable personal protective equipment are protective equipment that employ other source of air to facilitate the respiration of the user other than sources that are freely available in nature. Such equipment generate breathable air from gadgets and containers that are detached from atmospheric air, particularly when it is unfit to support normal human respiration (Burnett 17). Such equipment do not have air filters to sieve atmospheric gas, rather they produce breathable gas instead. 4.0 Contrast between air permeable and air impermeable PPEs The difference between air permeable and air impermeable personal protective equipment (PPEs) lies in their ability to allow air to pass through the protective equipment and contact the body. While personal protective equipments are designed to cover parts or the entire body, the material used to make them and the purpose for their intended used influences the material used to make them. Personal protective equipment designed to enable breathing of air, which may be filtered or not will be made using materials that allow air permeability. As such air permeable personal protective equipment include respirators that contain filters, head gear that allows air to circulate over the head, and clothing that allow the breathing of the body and are therefore not totally sealed from the atmosphere. However, personal protective equipment that forms a tight and impenetrable barrier between the body and the atmosphere can be said to be air impermeable. Air supply respirators are air impermeable equipment because they are sealed from the atmosphere buy providing the user an alternative air source rather than the atmospheric air. These are commonly used when the atmosphere is highly polluted with dangerous component and with much heat, which would expose the responder to health dangers as well as diminish the effectiveness his or her effectiveness within such an environment. Indeed, the higher the air permeability, the lower the thermal insulation, which influences the choice of protective clothing in fire situations especially (Wagner and Dorawa 240). 5.0 Operational considerations of first responder unit First responders operate in hazardous condition that would not only impede on their ability to provide rescue services to aggrieved individuals in a calamity but also endanger their health and survivability. While first responders are the first at site of a calamity, their effectiveness and safety is highly dependent on their preparedness and the facilitative equipment they bring along as well. Interestingly, communication technologies, availability of training opportunities, and advancements in personal protective equipment have enabled first responders to choose which strategies to employ and which equipment to bring along, as informed by the nature of the hazard and its circumstance (Forster 1). As such, the choice to employ personal protective equipment air permeable or air impermeable personal protective equipment (PPEs) lies on the information receive beforehand regarding the hazardous situation and circumstance found by the first responders at site. Therefore, first responder units should strive to answer the questions what is are the possible hazards at the situation requiring emergency response, which victims and rescuers are exposed and to what are they exposed, what is the period of exposure, and how much of the hazard would one be exposed to during the rescue efforts (Bonehill 167; Coan 14). Specifically, the nature of the hazards present on site, and the positions and ages of possible victims inside a hazardous situation inform on which personal protective equipment that the first responder would use. For instance, a situation that has a large fire, is highly polluted with chemicals, and has harmful biological agents or will require the rescuer to stay for extended periods inside the dangerous conditions, will require using air impermeable personal protective equipment, which would comprise of a full suit and an air supply respirator. Other considerations that first responders need to focus on include the quality of the protective equipment, which should be certified according to the personal protective equipment regulation in the country, and should be marked for quality certification depending with the jurisdiction of their manufacture and use. For instance, the Conformite Europeene (CE) is for equipment that conforms to European standards (TAIGA 1). 6.0 Conclusion Different emergencies present different hazards and thus place different demands on first responders. The nature of the hazard in a given situation and the length of exposure to the hazard help first responder unites to decide on which personal protective equipment to bring along and who to send into different aspects for the rescue and disaster response activity. The first responder unites use air impermeable personal protective equipment when dealing with emergencies in which gaseous pollution and excessive heat are existent because such conditions would not only harm the respiratory system but also the skin, the eyes and the years of the responder. However, in emergencies that the atmospheric air can be filtered in thereafter inhaled safely, then air permeable personal protective equipment may be used. Works Cited Bonehill, Jane. "Personal Protective Equipment." Managing Health and Safety in the Dental Practice: A Practical Guide: 167-172. Burnett, L. C. (2012). Personal Protective Equipment (No. SAND2012-0251C). Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Coan, Stephen D. “Massachusetts statewide chemical, biological and radiological threat personal protective equipment strategy for responders.” The Massachusetts Department of Fire Services. 2008. Print. Faccini, M., C. Vaquero, and D. Amantia. "Development of protective clothing against nanoparticle based on electrospun nanofibers." Journal of Nanomaterials 2012 (2012): 1-9. Foster, Raymond E. “Personal protective equipment: terrorism & first responders.” Police One News. 5 January 2007. Web. 20 July 2017. Hasbrouck, LaMar. “Interim Guidance for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems for Management of Patients with Known or Suspected Ebola Virus Disease in the United States.” Illinois Department of Public Health. 2014. 1-6. Havenith, George, Emiel den Hartog, and Svein Martini. "Heat stress in chemical protective clothing: porosity and vapour resistance." Ergonomics54.5 (2011): 497-507. Health and Safety Executive. “European stands and markings for protective clothing.” 8 (2013): 1-18. Irzmańska, Emilia, and Agnieszka Brochocka. "Modified Polymer Materials for Use in Selected Personal Protective Equipment Products." Autex Research Journal 17.1 (2017): 35-47. National Institute of Justice. Guide for the selection of personal protective equipment for emergency first responders. NIJ Guide 102-00. Department of Justice. NIOSH. “Respirator fact sheet.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 20 January 2012. Web. 20 July 2017. Schier, J. G., and R. S. Hoffman. "Personal protective equipment." Medical response to terrorism: preparedness and clinical practice. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (2005): 284-289. TAIGA (2017). “Rules and testing methods for protective clothing.” 2017. Web. 20 July 2017. uOttawa. Personal protective equipment –v5. Office of risk management. University of Ottawa. 2015. Print. Wagner, Anna, and Piotr Dorawa. "Research on Biophysical Properties of Protective Clothing." Autex Research Journal 16.4 (2016): 236-240. Read More