Preventing Bunker Gear Toxin Transfer

Increase the well-being of your firefighters and their families with effective safety protocols and products from Ready Rack. We want to help you reduce bunker gear toxin transfer. Learn more about cross-contamination risks and ways you can decrease them.

What Is Bunker Gear Toxin Transfer?

Bunker gear toxin transfer is the unintentional spread of toxic chemicals, like carcinogens, after responding to an emergency call or spending time in a contaminated environment. Everywhere you and your contaminated gear go, so do firefighter cancer-causing chemicals. Your fire apparatus crew cab, break room chairs, even the trunk of your car may be the new home of dangerous substances that are picked up by others and spread.

Toxins – Are You Exposed?

You can pick up chemical contamination virtually anywhere on a fire scene. Stored chemicals, toxic gases, burning plastics, apparatus exhaust, and soot, are just a few examples. What are these dangerous substances?

Carbon Monoxide
Hydrogen Cyanide
Nitrogen Dioxide
PFAS Chemicals
Sulfur Dioxide
Formaldehyde
Glutaraldehyde
Benzene
Acrolein

Tips For Minimizing Exposure

How do you protect yourself, your fellow firefighters, and your families from bunker gear toxin transfer? The FDNY, along with the First Responder Center for Excellence, has 15 tips for minimizing cross-contamination that can lead to occupational illnesses, like firefighter cancer.

These tips reflect real-life situations and concrete actions you can take to stay as safe as possible.

Always use your SCBA.
Use gear bags to transport contaminated PPE.
Do not store bunker gear in your car.
Shower and change ASAP upon return to the station.
Shower before returning home, regardless of the day’s activity.
Remove PPE in a manner that minimizes cross-contamination.
Keep hard surfaces in the apparatus crew cab clean.
Make firehouse living areas “no bunker gear” zones.
Wash off bunker boots after a working fire.
Don’t use a dirty hood.
Clean the inside of your mask.
Perform on-scene decontamination to remove soot.
Wash your dirty gear.
Thoroughly wash your hands after every response.
Make sure diesel capture systems are being used and working correctly.

Products Designed To Prevent & Protect

At Ready Rack, firefighter health and safety are our priorities. We carry and create decontamination, cleaning, and storage products. From immediate on-scene decon to turnout gear cleaning and drying to efficient storage, we have you covered.

All of our turnout gear cleaning products and PPE storage racks are designed with you in mind. We carry easy-to-use, customizable setups for departments of all sizes. If you’re looking to add additional layers of protection from bunker gear toxin transfer, we have solutions for you.

Outfit A Safer Fire Station

Add to your on-the-job firefighter cancer-prevention protocols with tools from Ready Rack. Contact us today to find out more about how we can help you and place your order.