The Spotsylvania County Department of Fire, Rescue, and Emergency Management (FREM) is committed to increasing the safety of its personnel by continuously evaluating opportunities that will improve the long-term quality of life.  Our commitment is apparent in our department’s first core value which is Professionalism. It states, “A willingness to operate within the boundaries of professional standards and in a team environment, assuring the safety and health of our community and our personnel are our top priorities.” During the past two years, FREM has implemented the following health and safety initiatives/programs:

• Turnout Gear (Second set)-All members received a second complete set of turnout gear in 2017 to allow for cleaning of gear post contamination. This prevents firefighters from wearing soiled gear to additional incidents.

• Particulate Barrier Hoods-All members received two Fire-Dex H-41 Interceptor hoods with a Nano Flex particulate barrier protection. This is designed to keep potentially carcinogenic particulates and other harmful contaminants off of firefighters’ jaws, faces, and necks;  areas identified as highly absorptive and more permeable than other areas of skin.

• Vehicle Exhaust Capture and Removal System-Installation of Plymovent vehicle exhaust extraction systems in all fire and rescue stations. These systems will reduce the hazardous exhaust emissions from emergency response vehicles housed in stations.  These emissions have been proven to contain benzene, poly-nuclear aromatic hydrocarbon, benzene alpha pyrene, formaldehyde, benzofuran, carbon monoxide, and nitric oxides, many of which are considered carcinogens. 

• NFPA 1982 Annual Physical Enhancement-Enhanced reporting of exposures to harmful toxins during our physical questionnaire for FREM employees. In 2017, the exposure included products found in structure, vehicle and vegetation fires. We have conducted annual NFPA 1582 physicals for all FREM members since 2002. This has included an annual OSHA Respiratory Questionnaire, physical evaluation, and PSA screening for all members over 40.

• Fireground Decontamination Operational Procedure-Development and implementation of a Fireground Decontamination Operational Procedure. This operational procedure outlines how and when to decontaminate the member after entry into an IDLH atmosphere. Decontamination procedures include active airflow, initial skin cleaning with personal wipes, gross cleaning of personal protective ensemble and thorough gear extraction.

• Health and Safety Training- Beginning in 2017, all recruit firefighters received awareness level training in the following areas:  Occupational Cancer Prevention, Behavioral Health, and Suicide Prevention.