Where do we stand? Where do we go from here?
By Barbara Doepping
Interact Business Group
Part I—Firefighter Review
(Read Part 2)
Each year in the United States approximately 1.1 million firefighters put their lives on the line to protect our citizens and properties from loss. These men and women come from a broad spectrum of work environments not only here in the states, but in our territories as well. Full and part-time career and volunteer fire personnel work at the local, municipal, State, Territory and Federal levels; alongside prison inmates, military personnel, civilian firefighters, private and industrial workers, and contract personnel. They are involved in organizations such as the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Fish and Wildlife, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the State Wildland agencies, the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Park Service, and more.
With information derived from the studies of the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) and other organizations, fire departments can develop solutions that will decrease future firefighter deaths. Solutions most often include improved training, a major design component inherent within the philosophy of the Interact Business Group’s strategic planning for public safety training centers.
Although only preliminary estimates have been released in the USFA’s January 2009 News Release (final report release will be in July), at this point it appears that firefighter fatalities dropped by four persons this past year; from 118 in 2007 to 114 in 2008. (However, there could be more, as State Fire Marshals continue to verify their 2008 losses.) We hope this is not the case.
2008 Statistics:
- Approximately 44% were from heart attacks and strokes
- Almost 2/3rds took place during emergency services
- More than twice as many losses occurred this year from wildland fires: 26 vs. 11
- Twenty-nine lost their lives in vehicle crashes:
- Fourteen succumbed during aircraft crashes
- Fifteen died in motor vehicle crashes (six in personal vehicles and three in water tenders)
Note: Historically lack of seat belt use and speed are involved in these accidents.
So just what is being done to improve firefighter safety?
Recently the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health recently published the NIOSH Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (Ridenour, M., et. al., November, 2008), consisting of assessments of 372 of the 863 (excluding the World Trade Center fatalities) line-of-duty firefighter deaths between 1998 and 2005.
The report was broken down into a synopsis of medical- and trauma-related fatalities; then by department: volunteer, career, and a combination of both. More deaths were found to be trauma related, than medical (181 to 154, respectively). The findings and recommendations were in the following categories:
MEDICAL CONDITIONS
- Medical screening
- Fitness and wellness
TRAUMATIC INCIDENTS
- Standard operating procedure and guidelines (SOPs)
- Communications
- Incident Command
- Motor vehicle
- Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
- Strategies and Tactics
- Rapid Intervention Team (RIT)
- Staffing
In each of the ten cases listed above, the NIOSH report offers a synopsis of the findings, recommendations for fire departments, a case study, key questions to assess the department, and a list of references.
The report stands alone and speaks for itself, and considering its depth and complexity of detail it would be a disservice to attempt a synopsis of the ten categories reviewed by NIOSH, and cited above. We highly recommend that the report be accessed and reviewed by the individual, in its entirety, in order to access all critical criteria. A complete review of the 56 page reproducible document can be accessed immediately via this link: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2009-100/pdfs/2009-100.pdf.
The Interact Business Group is dedicated to finding solutions by gathering valid and up-to-date information, assessing the information, and making recommendations in our areas of expertise:
- Firefighting Training Centers
- Police Training Centers
- Regional Public Safety Training Facilities
- Community College Public Safety Academies
- Public Safety Communication Centers
We possess unmatched experience developing business plans for police and fire departments, in-depth experience with collaborative projects involving multiple public (state and local) agencies, educational institutions, and the public.
We salute the NIOSH Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program report findings, and strongly encourage all firefighters and their departments to take time to review this valuable document. Working together across the country let’s make it a goal to implement many of the critical tools offered in this report in order to help reduce firefighter deaths in 2009, by an even greater margin than ever before.
To contact the CDC direct call: 1-800-CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636)
Or email: cdcinfo@cdc.gov
To subscribe to the NIOSH eNews go to: www.cdc.gov/niosh/eNews
About Interact Business Group/Training Center Business Plans
For over 15 years IBG has consistently written Public Safety Training Center plans for fire, police and other emergency groups. We have successfully moved projects from the planning stage, to funding and operations. For more information please contact us at (760) 751-0773 or visit www.theinteractgroup.com.