How Can First Responders Remain Safe Before, During and After a Flood?

11/12/2019 (Permalink)

Keep up to date with vaccinations

How Can First Responders Remain Safe Before, During and After a Flood?

When flooding causes devastation to your area in Coconut Creek, FL, your job as a first responder is to keep others safe. However, there are several precautions that emergency responders themselves should take to keep safe when responding to a flood.

1. Prepare for and Protect Yourself From Hazards

Wearing the appropriate clothing and using the right equipment when responding to a flood is often crucial. Boots, masks, gloves and other water-resistant clothes can reduce the chance of you coming in contact with contaminated water or mold spores. It's also often useful to be aware of common hazards during a flood, such as electrical hazards. Though some homeowners may be concerned about their belongings, emergency restoration services can assist in rebuilding homes, and it's often best to discourage others from attempting to salvage items in their homes.

2. Keep Up-To-Date with Vaccinations

As a first responder, there are various immunizations that can help protect you when you're in the midst of a flood response. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) requires emergency responders to have a Hepatitis B vaccination, as well as a tetanus booster once every 10 years. There are several additional vaccinations that may be helpful for emergency responders, though they are not required, such as a Hepatitis A vaccine and a typhoid vaccine.

3. Practice Effective Hygiene After a Flood

What you do after you respond to a flood is often just as important as what you do before and during your response. Effective hygiene after responding to a flood is a simple way to promote good health. After a flood, it's often helpful to wash your body with clean water and gentle soap. If any of your clothes have been contaminated, it's usually best not wear them again until they have been thoroughly sanitized and clean.

As a first responder, it's often necessary to keep yourself safe in order to help others. Preparing for hazards, keeping up-to-date with immunizations and practicing good hygiene after responding to a flood is often helpful.