LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Rural vacant structures
While the article “Vacant Structures: The Sleeping Dragons” in your December 1989 issue mostly addresses residential units and buildings in urban areas, every rural area has similar sleeping dragons.
Many barns, sheds, outbuildings, and even some older homes outside city limits were erected or modified before enactment of or without any thought to approved building codes. Because of this, these structures may be inherently weak and often are more susceptible to decay and the ravages of the environment than their inner-city counterparts are.
The purpose of most of these structures is to protect possessions from the elements, and they often are constructed on the theory that bigger is better, with little thought to load bearing or structural integrity. Many are used to store motor fuels, paints, solvents, pesticides and herbicides, and other accelerants or toxics. The potential for a drug processing operation, as mentioned in your article, is as real a possibility in the country as in the inner cities.
Many of these structures have been vacated or forgotten but are inviting places for children to explore and play in. In fact, children are often the cause for a fire to start in these places, so the possibility of a life hazard cannot be ignored.
All the warnings and conclusions that author John J. Skarbek gives are still applicable, but this may be a case where the simple country life may create as many potentially significant problems as occur in the big cities.
Brent Anders
Willowside Volunteer Fire Department Willowside, California
Get a shot in the arm
The United States Fire Administration has been actively responding to the impact of infectious diseases on the fire service and other emergency response professionals. In August we held a “Second Forum on Communicable Diseases” with fire service and emergency medical service professionals, infection control experts, physicians, attorneys, and allied federal agency respresentatives. We spent three days discussing infection control issues, including vaccination, curriculum development, legal issues, pending federal legislation, and other salient topics. Several recommendations were developed to address these issues.
One of the recommendations was “that the USFA administrator notify all emergency response agencies that firefighters and emergency response personnel be offered immunization against vaccine-preventable diseases according to the current Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices Guidelines.” We are complying with this recommendation through the “Open Letter to All Emergency Response Agencies” that follows. This letter is being mailed to all state and metropolitan fire and EMS training agencies, fire and EMS trade media, and major fire and EMS organizations with the request that they distribute it to all of their constituent emergency response agencies.
We are respectfully asking you to do just that. With your help, we can reduce the risk of exposure to infectious disease for firefighters, EMTs, and paramedics across the country.
Thank you for your assistance.
Edward M. Wall
Deputy Administrator U.S. Fire Administration Emmitsburg, Maryland An Open Letter to All Emergency Response Agencies:
Firefighters, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, and other emergency response personnel face numerous unique circumstances where they are at risk for exposure to blood, body fluids, and other potentially infectious materials. Their awareness and active protection against infectious diseases are vital to the health of these public servants and to the communities they serve.
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), is perhaps the most widely publicized disease affecting emergency response personnel. Hepatitis-B, however, poses a much greater occupational health risk, as each year 20,000 healthcare workers become infected and at least 200 healthcare workers die of work-related Hepatitis-B infections.
The United States Fire Administration feels strongly that all healthcare workers, particularly firefighters, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, and other emergency response personnel, be offered immunization against vaccine-preventable diseases such as Hepatitis-B. The U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration agrees and has mandated this for all employees covered by OSHA regulations.
Hepatitis-B is only one of the vaccinepreventable diseases that emergency personnel need to be concerned with. According to the current Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices Guidelines published by the Centers for Disease Control, “All persons providing healthcare to older adolescents and adults in private offices, clinics, hospitals, HMOs, and other healthcare settings should be provided with immunization against influenza; with pneumococcal, Hepatitis-B, measles, and rubella vaccines; and with tetanus and diptheria . toxoids, when indicated.” Firefighters, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, and other emergency response personnel fall into this group and should be afforded this protection.
The USFA Office of Firefighter Flealth & Safety is actively responding to the impact of infectious diseases on the fire service and other emergency response professionals. In August we held a “Second Forum on Communicable Diseases” with emergency medical and infection control experts, fire service professionals, physicians, attorneys, and allied federal agency respresentatives. We spent three days discussing infection control curriculum development, vaccination, related legal issues, pending federal legislation regarding occupational exposure to infectious diseases, employee rights, and models of fire department recordkeeping of exposures. We reviewed the progress of the 1988 Forum recommendations and developed new recommendations for the coming year. Detailed findings and recommendations have been published in the USFA Report on the Second Forum on Communicable Disease, which is available from The United States Fire Administration Office of Firefighter Health & Safety 16825 South Seton Avenue Emmitshurg, Maryland 21727
It is up to each emergency response agency to ensure that all emergency responders have the training, equipment, and protection to do their job safely. When they are saving lives, they must first protect their own. Make certain that your professionals can do just that.
Apparatus donations needed
I am semiretired and therefore spend about a third of my time on the north coast of the Dominican Republic in the town of Puerto Plata, established by Christopher Columbus 500 years ago.
The Dominican Republic is not as fortunate as most Caribbean island states as it is not associated with a more affluent country (such as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands with the United States or the British Virgin Islands with England). The Dominican Republic cannot expect financial help from a “parent” offshore country but must more or less fend for itself. It is in the upper level of the “Third World” and is a very proud and friendly place.
As an individual who spent many years in the fire service both in the U.S. and abroad, what I find here in the Dominican Republic is a situation that can certainly use some “mutual aid.” The fire department in Puerto Plata consists of two 20-plus-year-old pieces of apparatus that are rusty and very undependable and a homemade tank truck. (Only the tanker is in operation as of this writing.)
To put it blundy, they are desperately in need of two or three “rural” type rigs: gasoline-powered 500to 750-gpm units with 500 to 700 gallon tanks in relatively good mechanical order, and, if possible, some 2½- and 1‘/2-inch hose. I have recently supplied them with new l’/2-inch plastic nozzles and gaskets.
Due to the fact that they are located on the ocean, the rust factor on automotive apparatus is extremely high. Ten to 15 years is a good lifetime. Therefore, when considering the cost of “regular” apparatus, such is almost absolutely prohibitive, especially when compared with other needs of the city. When questioned by the chief about U.S.-built apparatus I recommended against considering “standard new” units but instead suggested good used rigs. (The neighboring town of Sosua could use one or two rigs also.). I further suggested to the chief that I write this letter to ask for possible donations from some U.S. or Canadian departments that might have more reserve apparatus in relatively good mechanical condition than they need or offer such rigs at very reasonable “used” prices.
I have offered to pick up the rigs and deliver them to Miami, Florida where a freighter serving the Dominican Republic will deliver the units gratis. I will pay all fuel charges and other direct expenses for the overland part of the trip.
My suggestion is that the donating department have its name on the rig such as
Cuerpo de Bombarios Puerto Plata in Mutual Aid with Your City Fire Department Your City, USA (or Canada)
with the flags of the two countries involved with crossed staffs.
The reason I am stressing Canada, too, is that many Canadians vacation here on the north shore of the Dominican Republic and could possibly benefit from their surplus apparatus put back to work down here.
The firefighters of the towns in the Dominican Republic would be just as appreciative of such a “mutual aid” offer as you are when your neigboring department’s apparatus rolls in to help you when you need it.
Andrew R. Alaways
Jamaica, New York
