Volunteer firefighters are worried the level of protection from disposable P2 masks is not high enough, but the RFS says higher quality P3 masks pose other safety risks | jennynoise
Volunteer firefighters spending extended periods battling NSW bushfires say they are having to cough up significant sums of money for upgraded respirators, amid fears the disposable masks issued by the Rural Fire Service aren't providing enough protection for the severity of exposure.
The spokesman said any crowdfunding activity was not authorised by the RFS, and the organisation could not verify that individual crowdfunding pages were legitimately going to local brigades. Volunteer firefighter and deputy captain of the Picton Rural Brigade, Andrew Hain, has already spent more than three times as many days battling bushfires this year as he would in a usual season. He said firefighters are worried about what such exposure is going to do to their health later on.Safety risk or 'game changer'?
Mr Hain said he understands there are practicalities that can make it difficult for the RFS to roll out these kinds of masks on a mass scale, but he doesn't think it's a reason not to offer them as an option. "It’s all 100 per cent out of pocket. These guys and girls are already giving a huge amount of their own time and effort as it is, for them to be financially impacted … it’s disappointing."
Volunteer Fire Fighters Association spokesman Mick Holton said the RFS should engage its members on the issue not wait until the end of the season to do something.He said the VFFA was receiving a lot of complaints from firefighters concerned the level of protection from P2 masks was not high enough for the amount of exposure they are getting.
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