Episode 160: Episode 5-17 – Capt. Sean Mitchell - IAFF Resolution Against PPE Manufacturers

Brothers and Sisters of the Fire Service – Be you career, volunteer, paid-on-call and wildland: THIS IS THE GEAR WE WEAR TO PROTECT US WHEN WE ARE NEEDED TO ANSWER THE CALL!
Until just a few years ago, we thought that, as long as we followed the Gross Decon procedures, shared throughout the fire service, we would remain relatively safe. And what happened several years ago to change that way of thinking? Our Brother from Massachusetts who, just after being promoted to Lieutenant, was diagnosed with prostate cancer and had to file his papers. His wife, Diane, while supporting her husband, wanted to know how this could happen. Her determination and perseverance led to the discovery that our bunker gear, just might be killing us from the inside, with “forever chemicals,” often referred to as PFOS, used in Teflon® coatings and waterproofing.
Capt. Sean Mitchell’s (of the Nantucket MA Fire Dept.) eyes were opened after he started following Diane’s posts on social media, especially because a fellow firefighter in his department, had also been recently diagnosed with prostate cancer. Sean began contacting the PPR manufacturers and requesting documents ascertaining the safety of the gear. The information he received, he found out, was not necessarily accurate. The more he investigated, the more he and the president of the Fall River MA Firefighters’ local, were convinced that the manufacturers were being disingenuous.
Learn here what Sean did, together with many other firefighters in the IAFF did at their recent, virtual convention, to show the manufacturers that we will not simply accept their “science” and assurances. No more!

Tune in on your favorite podcast platform or at our website, www.5-alarmtaskforcecorp.org.