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Using SNOMED Codes to Support Health Monitoring
An essential step in protecting firefighters and fire investigators is accurate health monitoring and recording in medical records. SNOMED CT (Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine – Clinical Terms) provides standardized codes that can be used to record occupational information. For example:
Firefighter occupation: SNOMED code 96240005
Occupational exposure to toxic agents – 1609 057 1000 119 109
Why use SNOMED codes?
SNOMED codes allow precise recording of a patient's occupational risk factors in healthcare records. They facilitate early screening and monitoring for conditions linked to exposure, such as certain cancers and respiratory illnesses. They help ensure consistent data collection across services, improving research and preventative care.
- How to use them:
Clinicians should record an individual's occupation using these codes in their electronic health record (EHR). - Firefighters and investigators should inform their GPs or occupational health providers of their role to support accurate coding.
- Employers should promote this practice as part of health surveillance programs.
Contact your GP
Regular health monitoring and early detection can play a vital role in protecting firefighters. Contact your GP and ask them to add your profession to your patient record.
To view email/letter templates to send to your GP, please refer to the FBU DECON Campaign.
Minimising firefighters' exposure to toxic fire effluents: best practice report
The best practice report, commissioned by the FBU and researched by a team led by Anna Stec at the University of Central Lancashire, for minimising firefighters' exposure to toxic fire effluents.
As a best practice report, it offers a guide to the risks of toxic fire effluents; suggests preventative measures for minimising exposure to them; and gives best practice for decontamination of FRS personnel and firefighting equipment.
It provides background information, statistics, resources and actions vital for improving firefighters’ health and well-being, keeping them safe, and preventing the contamination which otherwise will lead to serious health conditions.
To download the full report go to the FBU website - Minimising firefighters exposure to toxic fire effluents.