“Is your gear clean?”
Great weather for all departments means more time outside. Between training, annual testing of equipment, more training, parades and festivals, more training, routine calls or not so routine calls, and of course the training, you may spend more time sweating in your gear than the rest of the year. I can bet that for most of us our gear does not smell like a “fresh spring morning”! But, that is OK we are firefighters and we are supposed to look dirty and our gear is supposed to smell, we are tough- WE SAVE LIVES!! This might be true for some of us, but the true reality is the dirty gear we look so cool in, can sicken, injure, and even KILL us.
Proper cleaning is essential! Your home washer can’t do it. Your laundromat can’t clean it. The hose and brush is not thorough enough. Special gear needs special cleaning to KEEP US SAFE!
I have preached about dirty gear before and I will continue for a long time coming- eventually all will hear me. Listening is another story!
In this message I have added some links and information about a staph infection called MRSA. It is not new, but it is becoming more prevalent in athletics, healthcare, society, and maybe even in your sweaty fire gear.
PLEASE take time to read and inform yourself. MRSA cases are growing. Firefighters and EMS are exposed and we don’t even know. CLEAN GEAR IS SAFE GEAR!!! (This may sound quirky, but prove me wrong!!)
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MRSA (mersa, staff, staph) Watch helps patients, medical staff and health industry professionals monitor the latest MRSA news via a unique directory of article excerpts and links to further information. Click the bold links below for the latest news with respect to that subject. Recent headlines can be found here. Our article index is to your right.
What is MRSA?
There are 3 different types of Staphylococcus Aureus (SA) infection in the general population. Simple SA bacteria (it is not a virus) can be found on the bodies of up to 30% of the general population. It caused many problems before the use of antibiotics made wound recovery a safer process. Hospital acquired SA is generally resistant to several antibiotics but especially Methicillin, hence the name MRSA. This is found in about 1% of the population.
Community Acquired MRSA (CA MRSA) is often found in otherwise healthy people, is a different strain of MRSA, mainly causes skin infections and is treatable by more drugs at this time. CA MRSA seems to be more infectious - should it become resistant to more antibiotics it could pose a considerable public health risk. Many people carry or are ‘colonised‘ by SA bacteria but only suffer when they have another illness or suffer a small wound that the bacteria can grow in and infect them.
How do people catch MRSA?
There are several ways it is believed to spread.
- Hand carriage - this is why hospital staff are encouraged to wash their hands after each patient.
- Contaminated surfaces - this is why clean hospital wards are vital.
- Via medical instruments - this is why many now have special coatings or have silver elements. This discourages lingering residues and/or kills external infection entering the wound
- Via airborne particles - MRSA often resides in the nasal passages and can spread with colds and flu as a secondary infection that may be dormant for some while.
- Shared items - Families or other close knit groups sharing a facility such as military personnel, a sports team or prison inmates may share hygiene items such as towels etc. This is another vector for the spread of the bacteria
- Needles - Drug users sharing needles may be passing on MRSA alongside HIV or Hepatitis C. The same could be said of tattoo artists who do not have strict hygiene regimes.
- Sexual Intimacy - the nose, groin and underarms are key colonisation areas for the bacteria. Sex workers and the habitually promiscuous will be super spreaders in a society in much the same way as they are for AIDS.
How is it treated?
There are 3 key treatment regimes that are commonly used.
How can it be prevented
The media often focus on clean hospitals and clean hands as a key to combating MRSA. Others believe that this will only cut cases by 30% and that a diverse strategy is vital and will include:
What can I do
- Stay informed - this site and several others can help you do this
- Ask others via our MRSA Watch forum
- Act locally by becoming involved in patient advocacy or patient/hospital forums
- Seek justice - do you need to take legal action because of negligence or do we all need to speak up for communities who are being hit by CA MRSA but are underinsured and often powerless.
ROB LEAHY
SHAMROCK GEAR & REPAIR LLC
Turnout Gear Cleaning, Inspection, & Repair Specialists
P.O.Box 413 Magnolia, Ohio 44643-0413
Shop Phone 330-313-1220
Cell 330-418-6879
SHAMROCKGEAR.ORG
Fire Gear Cleaning and Repair
