California Professional Firefighters

Patient care puts first responders at risk of exposure to bloodborne pathogens such as Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV. A new NIOSH document provides practical recommendations aimed at protecting first responders, including reporting your exposures through a program like PER.

Through aggressive lobbying by CPF, California firefighters are now protected by some of the strongest firefighter presumption laws in the nation.

But firefighters still need proof of exposures! All of the presumptions in statute are disputable, which means that firefighters need evidence that an illness resulted on the job. It can mean all the difference in a workers' compensation claim.

Citing problems with internal testing, NIOSH has recommended that fire departments discontinue use of four Champak N95 respirators. NIOSH's recommendation targets four of the units' approval numbers: TC-84A-4363, TC-84A-4364, TC-84A-4394 and TC-84A-4665.

With the flu pandemic upon us, the state EMS Authority has set in motion a plan to allow local paramedics to administer the influenza vaccine. Under the plan, the LEMSA and the local health department may decide to temporarily expand the paramedic scope of practice to include administration of the pandemic vaccine, thereby enhancing community mass vaccination programs. 

Since 1985, the CPF-sponsored Personal Exposure Reporting system has been helping firefighters identify and document the hazardous exposures they encounter on the job.

Thanks to a strong push from California Professional Firefighters and technical support from the IAFF, a new standard has been adopted that will reduce first responders' risk of exposure to infectious disease.

California’s new Emergency Management Agency (Cal-EMA) has joined with labor and management to reject efforts to impose an inadequate physical ability test on both incoming and incumbent firefighters. In a joint statement, Cal-EMA, CPF and the California Fire Chiefs Association (CalChiefs) conclude that the NWCG “Pack Test” can’t and shouldn’t be used as a “fit for duty” test, and implementing it could threaten mutual-aid response.

Cal/OSHA this week issued further documentation supporting the California code which exempts firefighters from wearing high-visibility safety vests at emergency scenes on public roadways.