I have been in the the glove business for 6 years and I have seen first hand EMS and Fire Departments switch from regular Latex to the New synthetic gloves, mainly Nitrile. When I started selling gloves in 1998 I started out calling allot of Fire Departments which later lead me to EMS stations as well. During my first year of glove sales I noticed that the trend had been set by a company called Microflex.

When I started selling gloves in 1998 I started out calling allot of Fire Departments which later lead me to EMS stations as well. During my first year of glove sales I noticed that the trend had been set by a company called Microflex. I later found out the following year that they had a tight hold on Fire and EMS stations I considered them to be the MICROSOFT of Latex Gloves. It seemed that everyone was using there Latex gloves. From the ever popular Diamond Grip to there more High Risk glove the Safe Grip. All I had to do was call up my cutomers and ask if they needed any Microflex Latex Gloves. Nitrile was just around the corner.

As the years went by I noticed a new trend emerge it started in 2000 with my EMS stations first and then quickly spread to most of the Fire Departments I was dealing with. Most of my buyers did not want the ever popular Diamond Grip or Ultra One anymore they wanted a new glove called the Safe Skin Nitrile. I quickly found out were I could get a good price on this glove and started selling them to most of my customers.

The glove Safe Skin is made in two types of material Latex or Nitrile. It seemed that everyone I sold to requested the Nitrile Glove, even though at that time it was double the price of Latex Exam Gloves. I was interested in the sudden shift so I began asking my customers why they would rather use a more expensive Nitrile Glove.
I remember a Cpt. Morgan from an EMS company in Albany, New York told me that he had a few people in his crew that were allergic to Latex, so they decided to switch to a synthetic glove. I thought this was an interesting fact so I started to use it in my sales pitch to all my customers who were still using latex gloves. It didn't seem to sway any of them. "Just because a couple of people on the crew are getting a rash doesn't mean we should stop buying Latex all together and spend twice the money on a glove that only a couple of us need" This was from a Fire chief I was trying to sell Nitrile gloves to. Suddenly in the moment of the sale it hit me like a ton of bricks. "Chief" I said "How many calls do you respond to in a month?" About 70 to 100 he said. "Well if you have a couple of guys in your twenty man crew who are allergic to Latex, how many of your Victims that you help a month do you think are allergic to latex?" The chief was silent and then said "That's a good point, I never thought about that."

Well it's 2006 and I am still selling gloves to that same Fire Chief, He only uses Nitrile. Luckily for him the price of Nitrile has dropped and he only pays about 10% more for his Nitrile gloves than he would for Latex. This is because I have found other Brand Name Companys besides Microflex and Kimberly Clark who sell me Nitrile for nearly half the price as the Big Boys. It seems that today more of my buyers are educated about the difference between Nitrile and Latex but I still find myself having to explain the differences every time a new buyer takes over the position of the old buyer.

Remember Nitrile Exam Gloves are just plain safer to use than Latex. Ask any Doctor who works in the E.R. or Fire Man who has been on the seen of a bloody car crash or any E.M.S. Technician. I am sure they would agree Nitrile is the way to go.