• Kevin J Moore, Tulay Koru-Sengul, Armando Alvarez, Natasha Schaefer-Solle, Tyler R Harrison, Erin N Kobetz, and Alberto J Caban-Martinez.
• 1 University of Miami.
• Workplace Health Saf. 2018 Nov 1; 66 (11): 522-529.

AbstractDespite the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1851 Personal Protective Equipment Care and Maintenance guidelines, little is known about the routine cleaning of firefighter bunker gear. In collaboration with a large Florida firefighter union, a mobile phone text survey was administered, which included eight questions in an item logic format. In total, 250 firefighters participated in the survey of which 65% reported cleaning their bunker gear in the past 12 months. Approximately 32% ( n = 52) indicated that they had above average confidence in gear cleaning procedures. Arriving at a fire incident response was a significant predictor of gear cleaning in the 12 months preceding survey administration. Using mobile phone-based texting for periodic queries on adherence to NFPA cleaning guidelines and safety message distribution may assist firefighters to increase decontamination procedure frequency.

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