The Suits We Wear!

All the outfits we get to wear as Emergency Responders! There’s the structural bunker gear for the fire fighter guys, BSI gear for the EMS people, Haz-Mat has the level A,B,C,D suits and those ARFF people with their silver proximity suits. They say the ARFF “bake potato” bunker gear can handle up to 2000 degrees of heat. Wait doesn’t steel melt at that 2000 °F.? Oh wait, that’s radiant heat, like that makes a difference. If you’re in a fire where it’s 2000 degrees anything you might want to re-think where you should be at. lol I wore the ARFF silver proximity bunker gear for a number of years in the USAF, but never came across any 2000 degree fires thankfully, though I do know first hand they protected me from that ambient heat of up to ~ 500 °F .

Anyways, the little bother outfit for Emergency Responders that’s used and often over looked on a emergency scene of a MVA is the neon safety vests that keeps fire fighters and EMS personnel safe on roadways & highways.



Federal regulation states that high-visibility safety vests will be worn by all who are doing work on federally funded roadways & highways. Be it construction or emergency services work a high-visibility safety vests will be worn. I would think also that there’s some sort of local law somewhere on the books for the same. Federal mandate applies to police, fire & EMS crews that respond to MVAs or other incidents. Road crews, tow truck drivers and even members of the news media need to wear these safety vests while on the roadways & highways.

Would seem like a no brainer to wear them when you’re shown what the visibility factor is at night without one…



These safety vests are as visible during the day too. Granted you can’t have these high-visibility safety vests on over bunker gear if you’re fighting a vehicle fire. They’ll melt, their made out of plastic. Besides, if there is fire, traffic comes to a halt till the fires out (in most cases). The Fire Police always have you back.
Fire fighter bunkers do have reflective neon stripping on them, but once the fire is out and mop-up begins those safety vests need to be worn. Wear that safety vest to let all who are on the road know that you are there!

With more and more traffic on the roadways & highways these days, safety becomes even more paramount. There are still and will be in the future accidental deaths no matter what the Emergency Responders is wearing. The Emergency Responders needs to always be aware of “Your Own 360,” that is know what is going on all around you at all time on the emergence, especially on those high speed highways. Continuously do “Your Own 360” scene safety while performing, because being safe is just plan good, common sense.
I’ll be looking at those new neon vests at my local volunteer fire department a lot different now, knowing that they’ll help me survive on our roadways & highways.
(The usual disclaimers: I am not a journalist; This is a blog that expresses an outlook and is not conclusive in any shape or manner.)