_{Standard on Selection, Care, and Maintenance of Protective Ensembles for Structural Fire Fighting and Proximity Fire Fighting}

Margate Fire Department is proud to announce that we are the only city in the State of Florida that has been successful in being 100% compliant on NFPA 1851, but we have maintained this esteemed designation for 4 years running. 

NFPA 1851 sets requirements for how fire departments select, track, inspect, clean, repair, store and retire PPE. The standard is intended to provide generalized ways for how firefighters can meet these requirements to ensure the continued performance of PPE over its specified service life.

Unlike the PPE standards that applied to manufacturers, full compliance to the standard is uncommon for most fire departments, the principal intended audience for these requirements. Instead, many fire departments attempt to comply as much as possible within their resources.

The overhaul in NFPA 1851 is intended to promote better care and maintenance practices to both ensure adequate levels of protection and limit the accumulation of fireground contamination to firefighters. While NFPA 1851 is prescriptive in its requirements, it is also intended to be informative, as evidenced by the vastly increased levels of guidance provided in the accompanying annex material. As such, this standard, along with other new edition standards, such as NFPA 1500, is leading the way for transforming fire service contamination-control practices. Further progress is expected in the future, particularly to address other ensemble elements such as helmets, gloves and footwear for providing the same levels of detail in care and maintenance as not applied to garments. - source www.FireRescue1.com