When on duty, firefighters have to rely completely not only on their colleagues but also on their equipment. The term ‘Sicherheitskette’ (EN ‘safety chain’) has been added to the German ‘Atemschutzlexikon’ dictionary:
‘The safety chain combines all actions, methods, tactics, equipment and appliances associated with the safe use of respiratory protection and, in extreme cases, which make it possible to safely rescue the wearer of respiratory protection equipment by means of respiratory protection emergency rescue.’
‘The safety chain includes all safety philosophy associated with respiratory protection during preparation for deployment, deployment itself and post-processing. Breaking the safety chain can put the life of the person wearing respiratory protection equipment at risk.’
INVALID, UNSAFE PROCESSES
The post-processing following a call-out referred to above includes the cleaning of respiratory protective equipment. In the same way that certain hazardous situations can only be combated by following certain processes, valid processes are a great help when cleaning personal protective equipment (PPE).
When manually cleaning PPE, valid processes are difficult to guarantee. Like many processes that are carried out by hand, manual cleaning is prone to error:
- incorrect dosing of the chemicals used,
- insufficient wetting of PPE,
- not enough application time – or too much application time, if you get distracted by another task in the middle of manual cleaning.
This is exactly what happened at Lahr fire service. The results: the BA masks were left in the cleaning bath much longer than they should have been. The softener in the rubber parts of the mask dissolved, causing black marks on the firefighters’ faces the next time they used them.
VALID, SAFE PROCESSES
Unlike with manual cleaning, something like this cannot happen during cleaning in TopClean appliances:
All of the parameters associated with the cleaning process (time, chemicals, mechanics, temperature) are predefined and run reliably.
The integrated door lock ensures that the processes cannot be interrupted once the start button has been pressed.
A built-in empty indicator ensures that cleaning cannot commence without sufficient chemicals.
Our previous manual process was reliable, of course. But the TopClean M and machine cleaning takes things to a whole new level by giving us a much more consistent and reliable process.
Thomas Happersberger, Commander of Lahr City Fire Service
According to the expert opinion of Prof. Walter Popp, Head of Hospital Hygiene at Essen University Hospital, following intensive testing, the
TopClean M delivers good cleaning and disinfection performance. (...) As a general rule it is preferable to use a machine rather than manual methods to clean BA masks.
RISK TO HEALTH FOR SCBA TECHNICIANS
If manual cleaning is not carried out under the correct conditions, users can be put at an even greater disadvantage:
- cleaning vapours can be inhaled,
- chemicals can damage the skin and
- contaminated PPE can even harm those it is designed to protect.
IMPROVED SAFETY FOR SCBA TECHNICIANS
By contrast, machine cleaning is completed in a closed system, i.e. inside the TopClean appliances. What this means above all is more safety and security for users, as
- no cleaning vapours,
- no contact with chemicals during the cleaning process,
- least possible contact time with contaminated PPE
LENGTHY PROCESS
Another disadvantage of manual disinfection is that it takes up the valuable capacities of SCBA technicians – in particular when they are charged with removing all traces of chemicals from the equipment they are tasked with cleaning.
- Duration of manual process on average 4.5 hours for 4 BA masks
SAVES TIME
The machine process with MEIKO speeds things up: pre-clean BA masks in the TopClean D, then disassemble, place them in the racks of the TopClean M or TopClean H, select a disinfection programme and finally re-assemble and inspect.
- Programme runtimes of TopClean D: 4, 8 or 16 minutes
- Programme runtimes of TopClean M and TopClean H: 6, 9 or 12 minutes
- TopClean appliances reduce cleaning time by 60%
4 BA masks or 8 regulators or 4 BA masks and 4 regulators are cleaned and disinfected per programme cycle.
FASTER RESULTS THANKS TO MACHINE PROCESS
AN APPROVED PROCESS
An article published in the German magazine ‘Der Sicherheitsbrief’ describes how a jammed inhalation valve in a BA mask stopped the air supply to a firefighter on active duty. In the midst of deployment, the firefighter tore the BA mask from his face and breathed in ambient air – resulting in him being hospitalised.
The investigation into the processes carried out by the fire service’s accident investigators at the time found that the BA masks had not been taken apart prior to being washed in a special drum washing machine with a detergent not recommended by the manufacturer and then subsequently checked. Ultimately, it appears that it was not possible to determine if all of the valves had been checked.
So, a process that had not been approved was used. Aside from the injured firefighter, this situation also got a SCBA technician into trouble.
Machine cleaning in TopClean appliances also means more safety and security for SCBA technicians, because the cleaning and disinfection process delivered by the machine is approved by leading BA mask manufacturers.
BOTTOM LINE
Olaf Fernys, who together with a colleague is responsible for cleaning 892 BA masks and 661 regulators at Leipzig’s fire rescue headquarters, summarises all of these arguments quite simply:
It is not just about saving time; the improvement in safety and hygiene delivered by the TopClean M from MEIKO is more important.
SCBA technician at Leipzig district fire service centre
