Clean Zone
Every department has a story about building or renovating a fire station. One of my favorites is the department that put in a new kitchen during renovation. For some reason, the new kitchen cabinets weren’t wide enough for dinner plates to lie flat in the cabinets, so the plates have to be stored underneath the counters.
There are many aspects to consider when you‘re building a new fire station or renovating an old one. One aspect is building a clean zone into the station design.
Ed Nied is the deputy chief of safety and health for the Tucson (Ariz.) Fire Department. He also is chair of the Pima Fire Chiefs’ safety section and of the Southern Arizona Safety Officers Association.
I heard Nied speak at the Fire Department Safety Officers Association‘s Annual Forum last October, and he can be one scary guy — you‘d shudder to hear what‘s lurking in your fire station. And that‘s exactly why I asked him to present the 2008 Station Style Conference in Phoenix, April 26–29.
“What‘s one of the major bacteria-infested items in a fire station?” Nied asked. I’d guess the water fountain. Turns out, it’s the couch. “[They hold] huge quantities of bacteria,” he said. “Dry, flaking areas of the skin all over the couch, on bedding and carpeting, [plus] soot, possible carcinogens. Some departments cover bedding with plastic covers that can be wiped down between use.”
Nied and Kelly Reynolds, Ph.D., MPH, an associate professor for environmental health sciences at the Arizona College of Public Health, Department of Soil, Water, and Environmental Sciences at the University of Arizona, have been doing research on contaminants in fire and EMS facilities.
Within the past several months, a firefighter and an EMS worker in Texas each died from methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus infections. According to Nied, there is current legislation proposed to protect emergency workers from MRSA.
Nied said Tucson has posted signs to remind personnel to wash their hands for 20 seconds in hot water. “We need to have signs that remind people ‘You are entering a clean zone‘ and restrict turnouts from common areas,” he said.
Nied and Reynolds’ presentation, “Building Infection Control into Your Fire Station” will offer other ways to keep firefighters and emergency medical workers safe.
“Stainless steel versus porous materials need to be considered for surfaces in fire stations,” Nied said. “Reducing exposure to communicable and/or transmissible diseases/illnesses is the most challenging part of designing a fire station.”
Are individual recliners any better? Actually, never mind.
Related Topics: Leadership
