Safe Air for Firefighters! Protect your Protectors
There are many thousands of firefighters on the frontline battling fires across many parts of Australia and will continue to be there for the remainder of this Summer.
Bushfire smoke contains cancer causing chemicals. Social Media posts over the last few weeks have shown metropolitan residents what it is like to experience a small sample of what firefighters experience on the fire front day in, day out.
Many Fire Service Organisations, at this stage, do not provide adequate and practical respiratory protection suitable for the task of fighting bushfires, causing firefighters, volunteers and paid alike, to purchase their own equipment just to stay safe while protecting the people and communities across this vast land.
Many firefighters have taken weeks off from their work to volunteer their time, often unpaid leave or required to use up sick leave and annual leave, and now also borne with the burden of additional costs for extra respiratory protection.
$5,000 provides equipment for toxic atmosphere mitigation for 50 firefighters ($10,000 = 100 masks) from the bushfire smoke exposure. If we raise more, we will buy more!
Your donation can have a lasting impact on the health of firefighters who put themselves in harms way to assist our communities.
Volunteer Firefighters who provide a receipt for a purchase of respiratory equipment compatible with firefighting and the protection we are advocating, will be entitled to a one off claim which will be dependent on the money raised. It is anticipated that the claims may exceed the funds but we will do what we can.
If you would like to donate to a particular fire service, brigade or fire station in Australia then please make this clear through a message or email.
This is a not for profit exercise, all funds raised by FIREFIGHTER C.A.N.C.E.R. through this GoFundMe will be returned to firefighters via submitted claims.
Special Message to our Firefighters:
To collate data to help prove the case against the ineffectiveness of the P2 masks as respiratory protection for a bushfire (or any fire for that matter) post your photos of used P2 masks and tag Firefighter C.A.N.C.E.R. or email us at [email redacted]
https://www.facebook.com/FirefighterCANCER
https://www.instagram.com/firefighter_cancer/
We're particularly interested in shots of the inside of the masks where contaminated.
There are better options and you don't have to go to work with insufficient PPE.
1. Report all short comings via your services hazard/exposure reporting system.
2. Get educated. Research more about fire smoke management and its toxicity and how you can best protect yourself.
3. Buy your own (It's tax deductible for some ) and protect yourself.
(For example: https://www.bunnings.com.au/3m-multi-purpose-quick-latch-respirators-with-cool-flow-valve_p0054515)
4. Demand better protection, call your local member, share this post online, sign the change.org petition we created : http://chng.it/QhRzdQwRkt
Email [email redacted] for more information if required or contact us through our social media listed above.
Claims for Respiratory Protection Purchases can be made via the following link. The data provided will also help us determine how widespread the personal investment is for this type of protection. It is anticipated that the expenses sought will exceed the donations received. We will endeavour to process payments as soon as practical.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScK1vQ8GzQatSBgMJNWdzHDe1vXxzzxim9wXOEpYFjLH19QjQ/viewform
