Posted By Roger Smith Paul, The Socrates report makes three main recommendations... 1. Switch diesel supplies from standard diesel to Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel. You will already have done this as ULSD is the only sort available these days. 2. Install exhaust extract systems. These are successful at start up as they remove 100% of DEE from the appliance bay. They do have other problems though. 100% of the DEE are deposited into the atmosphere, the drill yard and the neighbourhood. DEE's continue to spout from the exhaust pipe as the appliance travels to the incident. DEE's are produced and surround the appliance and the pump operator at the incident itself. DEE's are produced and fill the appliance bay upon the return of the crew to the station. Fitting extract systems also limits the use of the appliance bay for other activities. 3. Fit an in-line exhaust filter system to each appliance. Continuous regenerative traps filter out the harmful oxides of nitrogen, carbon and sulphur. These compounds are stored until the exhaust gets up to working temperature and then burns them off in the presence of a catalyst into (relatively)safer compounds. This ensures that DEE's are reduced throughout all of the appliances activities. Socrates actually recommends a Fire Service implementing a combination of the three, recognising that no one solution is suitable in all cases. Incidentally, the nature and extent of the harmful effects of DEE on PPE is still in question. Socrates himself appears to acknowledges the lack of hard evidence. Whatever the harm, DEE also makes the walls of the appliance bay black with soot over even a short period of time. This alone makes it worth the effort of doing something about the problem. Assuming room is available, you could always segregate kit from the appliance bay instead of having it hanging on pegs alongside the vehicle. (I know that this is often much easier said than done!) Regular cleaning of fire kit should take care of any emissions that accumulate on the surface of PPE. The harmful effects of DEE have to be be viewed in the context of other products of combustion that the fire crew will come across during their daily activities as an emergency response team. I hope that this helps. Drop me a line if you want to discuss this further. Roger