This is ridiculous

[u/Big_River_Wet]

I’m all for the fun and games, but bringing SCBAs into the kitchen? Nah. We all know these things can only get so clean.

[u/an_angry_Moose]

I don’t even want a pack on my body unless I’ve got bunker gear on.

I like the idea of their training, but packs on in the house, especially in the kitchen is a no from me dog.

[u/ImmediateEffectivebo → u/an_angry_Moose]

How is your bunker cleaner than the scba?

[u/an_angry_Moose → u/ImmediateEffectivebo]

Because I know how clean the inners of my bunker gear are, the scba liners are never that clean.

I also wouldn’t wear my bunker gear indoors.

[u/Excellent_Snow_8082 → u/an_angry_Moose]

Do you wear your bunker pants on medical calls? My officer does and I’ve seen a lot of guys do it. I’m new and that’s something that kind of baffles me

[u/an_angry_Moose → u/Excellent_Snow_8082]

Depends on the call, if it’s cpr I do. The person is already dead and I’m going to be on my knees.

If it’s an OD I do, more or less same reason.

[u/Excellent_Snow_8082 → u/an_angry_Moose]

That makes sense, I’ve been holding off doing that because I don’t want bring my gear into people’s homes but my officer does it all the time even on minor medical calls if it’s in the middle of a the night. Thank you for responding

[u/FloodedHoseBed → u/Excellent_Snow_8082]

While it’s a very good and well needed practice to be wary and understanding of what is on your gear and the effects it has, the reality is that having it on inside someone’s home for 10-30 minutes is going to do zero harm to them. The biggest risk they face is you brushing against their couch and getting it dirty or something.

Same as when people go apeshit when they see a used helmet or a turnout coat on a little kid. Like the two minutes of contact on the kid isn’t going to cause instant terminal stage 10 mega cancer. If it did, we’d all be fucked

[u/silly-tomato-taken → u/FloodedHoseBed]

The dose makes the poison. People act like cancer is jumping off the gear everywhere we go (I imagine it similar to Pigpen from Peanuts comics).

The people I know who've gotten cancer are the ones who spent a ton of time in training burns.

[u/ITFOWjacket → u/Excellent_Snow_8082]

I’m not really qualified to weigh in but I would absolutely wear my bunker pants on med calls. The Cargo pockets are king, knee pads, all your tools and supplies don’t have to transfer back and forth, it’s the same muscle memory for every call.

I understand the risks but it’s also the job. I want to do it the right way, the easy way, without having to think about it, every time.

I’ve only worn used, donated gear in class. Basically the same as the carharrts I’m usually in except better in every way. And cancer. 🤷‍♂️

[u/imbrickedup_ → u/Excellent_Snow_8082]

That’s cause he doesn’t feel like putting his pants on lol

[u/msbdiving → u/Excellent_Snow_8082]

Some of the ones that want to look “hardcore” do. I preferred not to and wore station pants on medical calls. Yes I would take the extra 30 seconds to change so I wouldn’t be wearing heavy turnout pants for the whole day in sometimes 100+ heat on calls. Just sounds miserable. Plus, I knew two guys I worked with that got cancer in their 30’s. One testicular, the other colon.

[u/Apprehensive_Car_710 → u/Excellent_Snow_8082]

I made the mistake of not wearing bunker pants on a medical and kneeling to take someone’s BP. I kneeled down into a fucking piss spot on a carpet floor that was hard to see. So I had to spend the next hour running calls with someone’s or someone’s pets piss on my knee. You judgy pants out there can hate me all you want. I wear bunkers on medicals.

[u/4AndAHalfSheep → u/Excellent_Snow_8082]

Yeah, try to avoid falling into that trap. I did that for a while, then realized that's a disservice to the people I'm responding to.

I'd also like us to have boot covers where we can put those over our bunker boots for EMS calls or low priority calls. Like a smoke alarm activation, everyone's evacuated the house, and there's nothing showing.

[u/Excellent_Snow_8082 → u/4AndAHalfSheep]

I’m guessing most departments don’t want to spring for boot covers even though they’d be useful in the situations you mentioned. I just try to wear my regular uniform on EMS calls

[u/[deleted] → u/4AndAHalfSheep]

Your protection is more important. You and your crews health first civilians come second. Bunker pants offer more protection and save you from going back to the truck to put them on if you need em.

[u/ITFOWjacket → u/4AndAHalfSheep]

Boot covers shouldn’t be that hard to acquire

You do what you feel is right, for sure.

Good luck w all your coworkers though

[u/-TheWidowsSon- → u/Excellent_Snow_8082]

Coveralls are where it’s at for that. Like for heavy rescue. So nice to slip into at night. Way better than bunkers.

[u/Signal-Particular-72 → u/Excellent_Snow_8082]

I always throw my bunker pants on for medicals, you never know what kind of fluids are gonna be flying around when you get in there and if it turns out you end up knee deep in someone's bodyjuices you'll be happy you aren't in your station wear.

[u/EntireBeing3183 → u/Excellent_Snow_8082]

My department’s SOPs is Bunkers for everyone responding to an auto accident or anything that might be HazMat, even the ambulance crew. We throw our coats in a side compartment and wear the bunkers/helmet/hi-vis vest (with tear away, please be complaint on your highway scenes. Safety first). I’ll also wear my bunkers as the ambulance to a fire standby/rehab. Too much stuff on the guys going inside that I don’t want on me, same deal - coats in the side compartment if we need em.

The negative effects of wearing your bunkers is cumulative, you aren’t going to get cancer just by wearing them half of the time. You should ALWAYS change your clothes and shower after wearing bunkers and that’s where people go wrong. If you don’t get the contaminants off of you, you’re asking for trouble.

It’s also good practice, unless you’re at a busy department, to wash your gear after every ‘real’ call. If you came in contact with any contaminant (smoke, gasoline, bodily fluids) you should be washing your bunkers once you get back to your station (outers with outers , inners with inners. You never mix them).

[u/Asclepius34 → u/Excellent_Snow_8082]

My department does, we’re pretty big and old school tho