Saf Health Work.
2018 Sep;9(3):352-355. 10.1016/j.shaw.2017.12.003.
The “Warm Zone†Cases: Environmental Monitoring Immediately Outside the Fire Incident Response Arena by Firefighters
- Affiliations
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- 1Division of Environment and Public Health, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA. acaban@med.miami.edu
- 2Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA.
- 3Department of Medicine, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA.
- 4Department of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA.
- 5Palm Beach County Fire Rescue, West Palm Beach, FL, USA.
- 6School of Public Health, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX, USA.
- KMID: 2425310
- DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.shaw.2017.12.003
Abstract
- Hazardous work zones (i.e., hot, warm, and cold) are typically established by emergency response teams during hazardous materials (HAZMAT) callsbut less consistently for fire responses to segment personnel and response activities in the immediate geographic area around the fire. Despite national guidelines, studies have documented the inconsistent use of respiratory protective equipment by firefighters at the fire scene. In this case-series report, we describe warm zone gas levels using multigas detectors across five independent fire incident responses all occurring in a large South Florida fire department. Multigas detector data collected at each fire response indicate the presence of sustained levels of volatile organic compounds in the "warm zone" of each fire event. These cases suggest that firefighters should not only implement strategies for multigas detector use within the warm zone but also include respiratory protection to provide adequate safety from toxic exposures in the warm zone.
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