There were 114 firefighter line-of-duty deaths in 2008, only four less than in 2007. This is far better than the 171 deaths in 1978, yet far worse than the 71 in 1992.
Ronald Siarnicki served as executive director of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and he's a retired chief of the Prince George County (Md.) Fire/EMS Department. Siarnicki, like many, believes one death is too many, and offers perspective on the most recent fatality statistics.
Why didn't we see appreciably fewer LODDs in 2008?
That's a question the entire fire service community is talking about. Some of it has to do with multiple line-of-duty deaths. In 2007 and 2008 we've had large multiples. I'm not saying that that is changing the trend, but it definitely affects the number. We had Charleston, then we had the helicopter crash, each involving nine firefighters. Also, half the deaths still are related to heart attacks, and the number of vehicle accidents still are tracking where they were. Training deaths and fireground operations seem to have crept up a little bit, and several of those were multiples. We've got more work ahead of us.
Can driving and seatbelt behaviors change?
Most studies show that it takes a significant amount of time and continued push to get cultural changes within a societal element. For seatbelts, we are starting to see more cases of accidents where firefighters are reporting wearing their seatbelts and walking away. Through the media, the Internet and publications, we're able to tell more of our success stories. We have to raise that awareness and get firefighters to understand that apparatus takes a while to stop, that there is great distance involved in having that massive amount of weight be controlled. The leading cause of vehicle accidents is response in private vehicles. Often, excessive speed and not wearing a seatbelt are major contributors. With fire apparatus, there are elements related to training and maintenance, and fire departments have got to put those pieces into their plans to ensure that we eliminate every potential opportunity for a line-of-duty death to occur.
How long will it take to get that cultural change?
It is going to take years. Look at what other countries are doing. You don't see the vehicle accidents because firefighters in other parts of the world, most specifically Europe and the United Kingdom, don't jeopardize themselves by pushing that envelope with excessive speed. They put more emphasis on the training programs relating to weather and road conditions, intersection operations, and the mandatory use of seatbelts. You got to wear them, no exceptions. Yet we have cultural issues within the fire service with people saying it is restrictive, it doesn't fit, they can't distinguish it from the SCBA or it gets entangled in the SCBA. The reality is that you have to practice. There's a great video of the Denver Fire Department about how to wear your seatbelt properly. At first blush you say, “Geez, people should know how to do that.” But do we drill on it, do we practice it, do people even talk about it? Do we teach that in recruit school and do we then encourage that element in the fire station? That's where the leadership has to come in; both the formal and informal leaders have to make that happen.
Will it take as long as it did with getting seatbelt use in personal vehicles?
That campaign reached a plateau and the only way seatbelt use finally got to where it is today in America is when the legislative authority came in. Everybody relates to “Click it or Ticket.” There had to be an actual penalty involved in not wearing a seatbelt. All the highway safety efforts brought the country to a certain level of wearing seatbelts, but when there was enforcement, that's when the real change happened.
How can the fire service get that level of enforcement?
The first is that the leadership of the organization has to make a true commitment so that philosophy gets instilled in every level of the organization. People tell me stories about a chief who puts out a directive to wear seatbelts. The crew is getting the lecture and when there's a call they watch the supervisor get in his buggy and drive away without wearing his seatbelt. We need to lead by example, not just the formal leaders, but also the informal leaders. A part of the cultural piece is the fire service doesn't acknowledge … “I've done it this way for 10 years and it is not going to happen to me.” The reality is that 120 times this year, it happened to somebody.
What can first responders learn from other dangerous industries?
That's come up often, and it is handled through enforcement. If you work in logging or any industry, it doesn't matter which, there are plant rules for safety guidelines that are set whether through a state organization, OSHA or an industry standard. There are consequences for not following those safety requirements. Companies that are reporting lost time, that's money to them, so there's risk-management applied to that. More importantly, you are trained in the rules, you are told what the rules are and that if you choose not to follow them, there are consequences.
Are there appropriate rules in place to protect firefighters?
Every fire department operates differently. Some have reams of paper that they can breakdown orders; others don't have anything. There are best practices out there that could be adapted to any fire department. Is someone in that organization taking the steps to implement that in their department and instructing the membership on the proper application or technique of that guideline, and then following up with the proper reinforcement to make sure people are following those and that they have a clear understanding of the safety benefit from following them?
Is the cause of LODD a separate issue for career and volunteer?
There have been more volunteer line-of-duty deaths each year than career, but the numbers are starting to track closer. The bottom line is that heart attacks are affecting both. Vehicle accidents are affecting both. Both components of the fire service are having experiences in all of those categories.
What will it take to change firefighter health habits (smoking, drinking, diet, exercise)?
We're seeing a change in society with smoking. It is changing through the fire service, but it is more of a societal thing with smoke-free buildings and workplaces. There are some departments that have implemented a policy where you won't get hired as a firefighter if you smoke. Or volunteer departments are putting up no-smoking policies on fire department property. The health issues are a little more involved. But if you look at the general health of the population, firefighters, unfortunately, are tracking worse because of the exposures to emergency situations, stress and products of combustion. All those are triggers that affect wellness issues. There are pre-existing conditions in firefighters that need to be addressed. Society, as a whole, has issues with obesity and that is going to take an even longer time as we get out of a fast-food or poor-eating society. Like everything else, it will take a personal commitment by the individual firefighter and that department to provide those resources.
Does the ceremony that surrounds a fallen firefighter have a negative influence on the safety culture?
There's a lot of discussion about that. We do very well at funerals. We have to understand the importance of honoring the sacrifices of our fallen firefighters and what we need to do to help the families rebuild their lives and move forward. We have to spend time and energy to do family programs and activities that would keep them doing things with their families as opposed to the ceremonial traditional aspects of a line-of-duty death funeral. We have to honor the sacrifice of the fallen, absolutely. But for the sake of the families and the firefighters, it would be better if we find ways for them to spend more time with their families.
What's the biggest difference between the U.S. fire service and those with very low death tolls?
Some of it is the risk-assessment process that they undergo. There's the firm belief that if there is something to be gained, then more risk has to be applied. But if there is nothing to come from the benefit of the high-risk efforts, then we need to not put that in there. Maybe it is going defensive earlier. It is understanding the results of an interior attack versus a defensive exterior attack; rarely is there anything to be gained by doing that interior. The other countries have other requirements for training. They have more unified command processes in place. Not that we don't have that here, but it is difficult getting people to follow them and to understanding that whole realm of dealing with freelancing on the fireground or pushing it to the limit and doing everything to put the fire out when, the next day, the bulldozes are there tearing it down. It is not just doing it with hoses. There are prevention activities and the whole societal view of fire. In some countries, having a fire is a disgrace.
Firefighting is well above the U.S. occupation fatality average but well below the most-dangerous averages; what do you make of this?
In some cases, no matter what the cause of the fire is, it is a tragedy and accident. We've got to find some ways of getting people to reduce the occurrence of fire and doing what they can to prevent it.
What are you expecting for this year?
I don't have a crystal ball, but what I know is that as economies go bad, the occurrences of fires goes up, resources get reduced or stretched, and that's recipe for disaster. I'm hoping things will turn around. But people need to understand that those indicators in the past have been not well for the fire service.
Related Links:
Subscribe
Subscribe
Subscribe
Subscribe
Subscribe
Subscribe
