The thesis presents the problem of using contaminated firefighter protective equipment. It’s use leads to the development of various diseases, cancers and even death. This was the first part of my research and I came to the conclusion, by searching for substances that are harmful to health and are found in the work of a firefighter, especially in fires, since this is the area where protection against hazardous substances, is least emphasized. In addition, I also investigated the procedures for decontamination of firefighter personal protective clothing in the USA, the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden and Slovenia. I was interested in the approaches that individual countries have in relation to decontamination and care for the health of firefighters. I set two hypotheses, namely that firefighters are exposed to toxic substances that can lead to the development of illness and death, and that countries such as Slovenia, Germany, Great Britain, Sweden and the United States of America have written detailed procedures that are implemented for the proper cleaning and decontamination of firefighter personal protective equipment and are common to both volunteer and professional firefighters. I fully confirmed the first hypothesis, but I only partially confirmed the second, as it is true for all countries except Slovenia, where there are no written detailed procedures, but only advice from firefighter equipment decontamination providers.
The procedures in each country are developing and are very similar. There is still a lack of awareness of the consequences of harmful substances and the advantages of introducing decontamination procedures in all fire departments. Above all, I wish that knowledge of these procedures would spread quickly and that the implementation of decontamination of protective equipment after each intervention would become something common.
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