If You Build It, They Will Come

摘要

One of the characteristics firefighters enjoy about the fire service is its culture. On December 4,2017, Dallas (TX) Fire-Rescue's Safety Division was charged with and set out to change some of that culture. It would be the day the Safety Division was faced with its toughest challenge. We asked, "How do we get one of the most traditional fire departments in the country to understand how real the cancer epidemic is in the fire service? How do we get them to understand that fireground contaminants are deadly? How do we get our firefighters to understand that 'clean is cool,' regarding our PPE? How do we explain to firefighters in Texas that they must wear their SCBA and PPE throughout active and postfire environments?" Over the next several months, the plan began to fall into place.