Gordon Graham
Category: Public Safety

Gordon Graham here with Today’s Tip from Lexipol. And Today’s Tip deals with your personal protective equipment or PPE, specifically latex gloves. 

Wear the gloves when anticipating a physical confrontation with a mentally ill, drugged or drunk individual. 

You know, we’ve been doing these Today’s Tips now for several years. We get a lot of input from folks on our Today’s Tips. This is great because a lot of you folks are a lot smarter than me and have some great suggestions.  A while ago we did a Today’s Tip on PPE and I got a nice email from a Battalion Chief from Miami-Dade Fire. He had some terrific suggestions regarding latex gloves, so I thought I’d share them with you now: 

– Put 3 pairs of gloves in your pocket at the start of the shift so you’ll have an extra in case one tears while putting it on. 

– Carry gloves in the door of your personal vehicle, just in case.  

– At some time in their careers, law enforcement officers will encounter other injured, bleeding officers. They should remember that we’re a cross section of society and that some of our brothers and sisters have HIV, Hepatitis C, etc. Wearing gloves will allow them to concentrate the other officer’s life, and not be overly concerned about contamination or exposure to fluids. 

– Gloves should be put on early, before the hands are sweaty. Gloves are almost impossible to put on sweaty hands. 

– When you go to gunshot wounds or other heavy trauma calls, double glove. When the outer pair is contaminated and there’s a pause in the action, you can peel them off and still have a fresh pair of gloves on. That allows you to handle your radios, vehicles, etc. without spreading the mess. 

– Wear the gloves when anticipating a physical confrontation with a mentally ill, drugged or drunk individual. 

– Maybe wear them under leather gloves that are worn when anticipating a problem.

– You could stuff some gloves in your tactical vests, rifle bags, or other places that they might be handy.

– Some officers, deputies or troopers may have a latex allergy and may require non-latex gloves. Get them ahead of time. 

– When the gloves are taken off, they should be peeled off starting at the wrist so they turn inside out. This keeps the fluids off of clean hands. 

Great suggestions, Chief, Thanks! 

And that is Today’s Tip from Lexipol. Gordon Graham signing off.