Please review the below message from MABAS & OSFM. If you have any questions, please reach out to your risk manager.
Decon Buckets
Illinois Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) partnered in the creation of the State of Illinois Preliminary Exposure Reduction Training project. This joint venture was developed to deliver critical firefighter health and life safety research, education, training and basic equipment to fire departments across the state. The intent of the project is to provide departments with free basic equipment that can be used for preliminary exposure reduction (gross decontamination or decon) of personnel on incident response scenes, as well as training on how to use those tools. The recommended decon equipment includes common household items that are easily obtainable and fit into a space the size of a standard 5‐gallon bucket.
Every department in the state has the opportunity to receive this essential equipment for use at fire scenes. Click on this link: https://www.fsi.illinois.edu/decon/#!/index to begin watching the user training videos. If you are a Chief or Training Officer, you will then be able to place your bucket order of up to 1 bucket per vehicle with a pump in your department. This includes front line and reserve engines, quints and brush trucks.
IFSI, OSFM, and MABAS have aligned to offer this equipment at no‐cost to departments while also ensuring that all members of the Illinois fire service have the appropriate training and education on firefighter exposure risks, industry health precautions, and the preliminary exposure reduction recommendations from IFSI Research and their research partners.
Funding for equipment is supported through the allocation of Fire Prevention Fund by the Office of the State Fire Marshal.
Project management is supported through the Illinois Fire Service Institute with preliminary exposure reduction equipment and usage recommendations underwritten by IFSI Research and equipment distribution is managed by MABAS.
To date over 1,600 kits have been distributed to 473 departments throughout the State of Illinois. There are approximately 1400 kits available.