211 PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT

POLICY 211.0PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT ESTABLISHED 5/2019 RELATED POLICIES: Reviewed by Chief David Magnusson 5/2019 A.PURPOSE To enhance officer protection and Departmental mission readiness by establishing a formal Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical (NBC) protective equipment program. Background: In recent years the threat to police officers from NBC environmental hazards has grown significantly. Terrorism, both domestic and international, has dramatically increased, peaking in the terrorist attacks against New York and Washington on September 11, 2001. Secondly, illicit narcotic production laboratories have been discovered in every region of the country including So Fla. Finally, the ability to maintain control of Civil Disturbances is a standing mission of all police departments. One of the most effective control techniques is the use of police chemical agents, (CS & CN); police officers therefore, must have effective protective equipment. While it is highly unlikely that these agents would be deployed except in the rarest of instances, due to close hour proximities, all eventualities must be realized. Thus, the appropriate functioning equipment is a must. DEFINITIONS: A. APR. Air Purifying Respirator B. Bound Seam. A clean-finished binding that encapsulates the raw edges of two plies of fabric. All layers are sewn through with a chain stitch. C. Taped Seam. A very strong seam produced when a sewn seam is covered with a strip of compatible material. The strip is attached by heat sealing as with film laminated materials. D. Serged Seam. A seam where three threads are interlocked around the raw edges of two plies of material. E. DECON. Decontamination F. Department. Miami Springs Police Department G. DOFFING. Take off personal protective equipment H. DONNING. Put on personal protective equipment I. Electrometric. “Rubber” based materials; e.g. Butyl, Neoprene, and Viton. Typically durable but have limited chemical resistance. J. Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health (IDLH). Means an atmosphere that poses an immediate threat to life, would cause irreversible adverse health effects, or would impair an individual’s ability to escape from a dangerous atmosphere. Atmosphere that poses an immediate threat to life, would cause irreversible adverse health effects, or would impair an Page 1 of 10 individual’s ability to escape from a dangerous atmosphere. K. Level A Protection. The highest available level of respiratory, skin, and eye protection. Requires a fully encapsulating vapor protective suit with supplied breathing air. A chemical designated level A has a high vapor pressure, is toxic through skin absorption or is carcinogenic. L. Level B Protection. The same level of respiratory protection as level A but less skin protection required. Suits are usually fully encapsulating but not gas tight. Level B chemicals are not vapors or gases with skin toxicity or carcinogenic. M. Level C Protection. Air purifying respirator and a coverall style HazMat suit. Strictly for non-IDLH environments. N. Level D Protection. Regular duty uniform, protective gloves and boots are optional. 0. High efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter means a filter that is at least 99.97% efficient in removing mono-disperse particles of 0.3 micrometers in diameter. The equivalent NIOSH 42 CFR 84 particulate filters are the N100, R100, and P100 filters. P. NBC. Nuclear, Biological, Chemical 0. OSHA. Occupational Safety & Health Administration R. Personnel. Miami Springs Police Department Personnel S. PPE. Personal Protective Equipment T. Protective Mask. A full-face tight fitting NBC respirator mask equipped with a NATO 40 mm threaded APR socket. U. QLFT. Qualitative Fit Testing means a pass/fail fit test to assess the adequacy of respirator fit that relies on the individual’s response to the test agent. V. QNFT. Quantitative Fit Testing means an assessment of the adequacy of respirator fit by numerically measuring the amount of leakage into the respirator. W. SCBA. Self Contained Breathing Apparatus B.POLICY It shall be the policy of the Village of El Portal Police Department to enhance its response capacity to effectively deal with NBC incidents by developing and maintaining the required Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) sets. C.PROCEDURE: The Department shall establish one protective equipment set which will be considered defensive. The defensive equipment set shall be issued to all sworn personnel. A. The defensive equipment set is defined as that equipment needed to: 1. Protect police officers from secondary chemical contamination from the victims of chemical exposure, 2. Allow police officers to collect evidence of value in a chemical incident warm zone, 106.5 - Page 2 of 10 3. Provide police officers with escape capability in case a secondary terrorist device is detonated and/or from a Hazardous Material Vapor Cloud in case of a wind shift. B. The defensive equipment set shall be comprised of the following elements: 1. A negative pressure full face NBC protective mask 2. An