Guide for the selection of personal protective equipment for emergency first responders

'The primary purpose of the Guide for the Selection of Personal Protective Equipment for Emergency First Responders is to provide emergency first responders with information to aid them in the selection of PPE, both percutaneous (skin) protection and respiratory protection. PPE providing percutaneous protection addressed in this guide includes protective ensembles, footwear, and gloves. PPE providing respiratory protection from CBRN threats addressed in this guide includes air-purifying respirators (APRs), powered air-purifying respirators (PAPRs), self-contained atmosphere supplying respirators (SCBAs), and escape respirators. The guide is intended to be more practical than technical and provides information on a variety of factors that should be considered when purchasing and using PPE, including duration of protection, dexterity/mobility (how cumbersome is the equipment), cleanability, and use/reuse, to name a few. The remainder of this guide is divided into several sections. Section 2 presents background information about the function, components, protection levels, and certification standards associated with PPE. Section 3 provides an introduction to chemical agents, toxic industrial chemicals/materials (TICs/TIMs), biological agents, and radiological/nuclear agents. Specifically, it discusses CBRN agents by providing overviews, physical and chemical properties, routes of entry, and symptoms. It also discusses the 98 TICs/TIMs that are considered in this guide. Section 4 presents an overview of percutaneous protection and is divided into several subsections that focus on ensembles, boot, and gloves. Section 5 presents an overview of respiratory protection equipment and is divided into several subsections that focus on APRs, PAPRs, SCBAs, and escape respirators."--Document home page.