Transcript Chapter 2
Firefighter Safety
1
Introduction
Fire service knows what injures and kills
firefighters.
Firefighting profession carries significant
risk.
Risk
Risk management
Firefighter safety is grounded in
understanding risks and risk/benefit
thinking.
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Safety Issues
Understand what events and circumstances
lead to injury or death.
Creation of standards, procedures, and
initiatives
Efforts directly affect training and tactics.
Awareness of safety and injury-prevention
habits helps the fire service address safety
issues.
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Firefighter Injury and Death
Trends
70 percent of all duty deaths and injuries
in Canada and the United States occur
during emergency activities.
Heart attacks
Fire-related causes
Understanding historical data helps
reduce deaths and injuries.
Firefighter deaths hover around 100 per
year.
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Safety Standards and
Regulations
Health and Safety Acts and Regulations
Firefighting fatalities and injuries have
not noticeably decreased.
Workplace Safety and Health/NFPA
alliance
NIOSH
Recommendations based on investigations of
firefighter fatalities
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An example of a NIOSH Alert issued to address
disturbing trends in firefighter injuries and
deaths.
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Firefighter Safety Initiatives
In 2004, USFA and NFFF developed 16
Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives.
In 2005, organizations agreed that a
collective time-out was needed.
In 2007, the Firefighter Life Safety
Initiatives were revisited.
Time and more focused preventative
energy
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Firefighter Safety Initiatives
(cont.)
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Firefighter Safety Initiatives
(cont.)
Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation
partnered with the Canadian
Association of Fire Chiefs and the
National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.
Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation
recognizes Canadian-made approach to
safety issues.
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Canadian Firefighter Life Safety
Canada honours fallen firefighters on an
annual basis in Ottawa, Ontario at
Parliament Hill.
Pays tribute to the over 940 Canadian
firefighters
Names of firefighters added to the
honour roll
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Preventive Actions
Goal of exploring safety issues is to
reduce potential for injury and deaths.
Safety triad
All firefighters should be empowered.
Those whose actions are stopped should
view the intervention as positive.
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(A)
(B)
(C)
The safety triad includes (A) procedures, (B) equipment and (C)
personnel. (Photo courtesy of Richard W. Davis)
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Basic skills must be practiced on a regular basis.
14
Personnel
Critical incident stress management
(CISM)
Member assistance programs (MAPs)
15
Developing a positive safety attitude and
practicing safe habits will demonstrate safe
examples to others.
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Personnel (cont.)
Attitude is the hardest to address.
Factors affect safety attitudes:
Fire department’s safety culture
Fire department’s history
Example set by others
Take steps to create a positive attitude.
Practice good habits.
Learn from others.
Be vigilant.
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Firefighter Safety
Responsibilities
Dependent on the efforts of everyone
Responsibility for firefighter safety rests
in one of three areas:
Department
Working team
Individual
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(A)
(B)
(C)
Firefighter safety is dependent on all partners holding up
their responsibilities: (A) administration, (B) teams, and (C)
individual firefighters.
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The Department
Fire chiefs must create and enforce:
Rules
Procedures
Expectations
Health and safety committee
Develop standard procedures
Implement risk management plan
Research and purchase appropriate
equipment
Awareness training
5.20
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The Team
Holds up its part of the safety
partnership
Utilize ICS
“Buddies”
Look after each other
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The Individual Firefighter
Readiness
Each individual must fill a role.
Perform as trained.
Freelancing
Incident engagement checklist
Use safety when riding apparatus.
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Freelancing endangers individuals and the team.
This firefighter is working alone in a collapse
zone—for what gain?
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Firefighters should perform a mental
incident engagement checklist for every
response.
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Lessons Learned
Firefighter safety dependent on many factors
70 percent of injuries and deaths in the U.S.
occur during emergency activities.
Fire departments required to follow Workplace
Safety and Health Acts and Regulations in
their province or territory.
Accident prevention
Safety triad between administration, working
teams, firefighter
Individual safe habits and attitudes
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