We donÕt place fire blankets in our labs any moreÉ but our Associate Director of EHS keeps one in his office for emergency naps.

W.

Wayne Wood | Associate Director, University Safety (EHS) Ð Directeur Adjoint, Direction de la prŽvention (SSE), Services universitaires | McGill University | 3610 McTavish Street, 4th floor | Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3A 1Y2 | Tel: (514) 398-2391 | Fax: (514) 398-8047

From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:dchas-l**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU] On Behalf Of Barbara Mowery
Sent: Friday, December 02, 2011 12:46 PM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Use of a fire blanket

Good afternoon,

I have received the following question from a colleague-your input would be much appreciated.
"Hi, I have been receiving emails regarding the dangers associated with using fire blankets and I'm concluding that we should probably not use them to wrap up someone who might be on fire in one of our labs....

Fire blankets are valuable in labs for a variety of purposes.  One of those does not happen to be wrapping        yourself in them to extinguish your clothing fire.  In addition to trapping the heat, the fire blanket creates a chimney effect and directs the hot, toxic gases, and flames into your face, breathing zone and lungs.

Whether you go to the shower or not depends on your distance.  For anything more than 2-3 steps, please stop, drop, and roll.  Someone else can get the blanket and use it to help smother the flames.  Then, cool off in the shower.

Blankets can also be used for (1) shower modesty curtains, (2) wraps for after the shower, (3) a temporary stretcher, (4)to  keep someone warm to avoid shock, (5) a pillow if the victim needs to be on the floor, and (6) to smother other fires."

--
Barbara Mowery
General Chemistry Laboratory Coordinator
Physical Sciences Department
York College of Pennsylvania
441 Country Club Road
York PA 17403-3651
113 Campbell Hall         717-815-6480      Fax 717-849-1653

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