First Published 8/17/08

From the secretlist:

In the USFA’s 2007 study, it includes information on the hazards to firefighters and seatbelt use. In 2007, 27 Firefighter fatalities resulted from vehicle-related incidents. In 19 of the 27 incidents where seatbelt status was known, 11 Firefighters were confirmed as not wearing seatbelts at the time of the event.

Here is the USFA overview of the 118 Firefighters that died while on duty in 2007:
=68 volunteer Firefighters and 50 career Firefighters died while on duty.
=There were 7 Firefighter fatality incidents where 2 or more Firefighters were killed, claiming a total of 21 firefighters’ lives.
=11 Firefighters were killed during activities involving brush, grass, or wild land firefighting, the lowest in over a decade.
=Activities related to emergency incidents resulted in the deaths of 76 Firefighters.
=38 Firefighters engaging in activities at the scene of a fire.
=26 Firefighters responding to or returning from emergency incidents.
=11 Firefighters were engaged in training activities.
=15 Firefighters after the conclusion of their on-duty activity.
=Heart attacks were the most frequent cause of death for 2007, with 52 Firefighter deaths.

Here is a link to the USFA report: http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/fireservice/fatalities/statistics/report.shtm

Here is a link to the NFPA report: http://www.iaff.org/08News/PDF/NFPAReport.pdf

So; is anyone else surprised by the 2007 stats?

If you are, why? Have you been living in a cave? On a desert island? Or are you like most that just read about it, shrug and go about your business? Why should you care, as long as you aren’t a part of the statistics?

You don’t like it much when someone like me says “it’s a black eye on the entire national fire service”.

You come right back with “that’s not the way we do things here. We do it right. We have SOGs. We require background checks and yearly physicals. We do drivers’ training. We have an exercise room. We offer healthy alternatives in the food vending machines”. And on and on…

That is all well and good and that is exactly why you should be the most pissed off when you see that 27% of all 2007 fatalities were the result of not getting to or from the scene without dying; be it by apparatus or POV. You should be especially miffed because, of those, over 10% died because they were not wearing seatbelts. And every time the public reads something like that, they scratch their heads. They are of the mind that WE should be the standard bearer for seatbelts.

Half of the 2007 firefighter fatalities were the results of heart attacks. That can’t be right! We are taking better care of ourselves. We understand the relationship of good physical and mental health to firefighting. Eating right and exercise is the cry of the new generation. Hoo ah!

The problem is that there are still many in the service and especially in the volunteer service that are in high risk categories, are older, are obese, out of shape and out of touch with the strenuous requirements of the job. They treat their bodies the same way they treat their commitment to their fellow firefighters-half assed and half hearted.

“I just want to help my community” doesn’t mean that you have to die for it and certainly not from a natural cause brought on by years of biscuits, cigarettes, beers, cheese fries and vegging on the couch while the wife mows the lawn. You have taken years to destroy a perfectly healthy heart to the point that just the pager going off sends you into cardiac arrest. If you make it to the incident, carrying the Jaws 75 feet to the vehicle will drop you to your knees. And if you make it back to the station, you’ll die there before your buddies can get out of their bunker pants.

Are you mad yet? Careful; you might have a heart attack. There’s more.

We are quick to single out a segment in our fire service who struggle with drugs and alcohol. I have always been a strong proponent about the penalties to firefighters who are caught using and abusing while on duty. I still believe that.

I also believe that they should be given every opportunity to repair their problem with a program to assist them.

What I don’t believe we should do is subsidize their bad choices with our tax money. Which is why I support the denial of benefits to any public safety officer who is found to have a verifiable quantity of illicit drugs or alcohol in their system at the time of their deaths. WE do not punish the survivors; the firefighter did THAT when they chose the path that they did.

I want to extend the legislation to include other acts not covered by good, common sense.

I want benefits/grants denied for:

Not wearing seatbelts while responding to or from an incident; regardless of whether you are in apparatus or POV.

Not wearing SCBA while participating in salvage and overhaul operations.

Not wearing full turnout gear when common sense is absent; yet should dictate that it be worn.

Departments who will not conduct a background check on their members.

Departments who will not require a pre-employment physical for new hires and yearly physicals for current members.

Departments who will not adopt NFPA as the “authority having jurisdiction”.

Chief Officers who will not look out for the best interests of their men and women and REQUIRE them to follow the SOGs, rules, regulations, laws and the common sense that God gave them.

Now; I know many will want to split hairs. I am sure that there are many others if given to thought, but these are the ones that are mudding my mind at the moment and as always, I can come back after due thought and post another blog.

In the meantime, eat right, exercise; get your sleep and BUCKLE UP when you are in a vehicle, wherever that may be.

TCSS.