At Hunter Apparel Solutions Limited (Hunter) we’ve spent years working at the intersection of innovation, safety, and improving the long term health outcomes for firefighters. We are really proud of the work and of the many awards we have received for our achievements.

But for many of us, this mission is personal. We’re not just engineers and solution providers—we’re part of the wider fire service family.

For decades, soot-covered PPE was a badge of honour. It meant you’d done the job, stood in the heat, earned your place. Dirty PPE was respected. Clean PPE was questioned. That mindset—while forged in pride and resilience—has cost us more than we ever imagined.

The truth is this: the smoke that lingers on your PPE long after a fire call isn’t just a memory. It can also be a chemical cocktail of PFAS, SVOCs, PAHs, and other carcinogens—silent threats that cling to every fibre of your PPE (according to IARC). For too many already, that danger only became clear after it was too late.

“It’s a sad irony that the PPE developed to keep firefighters safe from acute injury on the ground is a major source of longer-term chronic health hazards brought about by handling contaminated PPE. It shouldn’t be a case of health vs. safety.” — says Chris Colgan, ex-UK NFCC PPE lead.

It’s a familiar story—and one we hear too often.

That’s why Hunter has committed itself to reshaping the future of firefighter health through our Deconology® platform. We know that dirty PPE is more than a hygiene issue—it’s a health crisis. And our Liquid CO₂+ system was developed to meet that challenge head-on. It penetrates deep into PPE fibres and can achieve 99%+ removal of harmful toxins, such as PAHs and PFAS all while using a waterless, closed-loop system to extract these harmful residues, according to The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health published findings in 2018, they also showed that industrial washing could only produce between 15-40% decontamination of PPE. Yet many people still believe water-based washing can achieve much higher levels of decontamination. No-one has ever been able to explain to us how water based washing would decontaminate a waterproof membrane and that is because it can’t!

But the solution goes beyond technology. It’s about cultural change.

We believe that real leadership in the fire service today isn’t about enduring danger in silence. It’s about protecting your team—with knowledge, with action, and with the best technology available.

At Hunter, we don’t just talk about this—we invest, we are first to market, we build the systems to make it happen because we care. Our Deconology® closed looped system offers complete PPE care and HunterCARE® provides full PPE track and trace. Technologies designed for today’s risks and to comply with international best practice i.e. ISO 23616:2024 – now being widely demanded by fire services.

The badge of honour that we value now? It’s to help improve the long-term health outcomes of firefighters. It’s starts with leadership from fire services choosing to protect firefighters as best they can. We will stand with you if and when you chose that path.

Want to be involved? Contact our sales team today they will be glad to share their knowledge, contact: sales@hunterapparelsolutions.com