In the U.S. Fire Administration's "Chief's Corner," Acting U.S. Fire Administrator Charlie Dickinson turns the spotlight on the milestones achieved by the International Association of Fire Chiefs' National Firefighter Near-Miss Reporting System in its first 15 months.

According to Dickinson, the system has:

• Passed the 1,100 mark for submitted reports,
• Received numerous letters and e-mails that describe changes of practice and testimonials from departments using the system to raise awareness about safety,
• Established a successful weekly training e-mail that is mailed to more than 3,000 firefighters who in turn forward it to over 30,000 more, and
• Received two prestigious awards for its concept and practice.

"The USFA is honored to play a role in this ever-growing commitment to firefighter safety and the recent success of the National Firefighter Near-Miss Reporting System," Dickinson wrote. He made special note of the new Resources page at at www.firefighternearmiss.com, which contains a report on the findings from the first 1,000 reports.

"I encourage all firefighters to support this safety effort by submitting reports from your experience and to visit the site frequently to learn from firefighters looking to share their experiences. The site fulfills a need to capture the experience of our veteran firefighters and 'pay that experience forward' to the next generation of firefighters," he added.

Dickinson also touched on numerous other safety efforts that are helping to reduce firefighter injuries and fatalities, including the IAFC's Safety Stand Down, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation's Everyone Goes Home initiatives and the National Volunteer Fire Council's Heart Healthy program.