firefighter safety 1. introduction fire service knows what injures and kills firefighters....
TRANSCRIPT
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Chapter 2 Firefighter Safety
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IntroductionFire service knows what injures and
kills firefighters.Firefighting profession carries
significant risk.RiskRisk managementFirefighter safety is grounded in
understanding risks and risk/benefit thinking.
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Safety IssuesUnderstand 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 Trends70 percent of all duty deaths and
injuries in Canada and the United States occur during emergency activities.
Heart attacksFire-related causesUnderstanding historical data helps
reduce deaths and injuries.Firefighter deaths hover around
100 per year.
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Safety Standards and RegulationsHealth and Safety Acts and
Regulations Firefighting fatalities and injuries
have not noticeably decreased.Workplace Safety and
Health/NFPA allianceNIOSH
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 InitiativesIn 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 SafetyCanada honours fallen
firefighters on an annual basis in Ottawa, Ontario at Parliament Hill.Pays tribute to the over 940
Canadian firefightersNames of firefighters added to the
honour roll
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Preventive ActionsGoal of exploring safety issues is
to reduce potential for injury and deaths.
Safety triadAll firefighters should be
empowered.Those whose actions are stopped
should view the intervention as positive.
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The safety triad includes (A) procedures, (B) equipment and (C) personnel. (Photo courtesy of Richard W. Davis)
(A) (B)
(C)
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Basic skills must be practiced on a regular basis.
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PersonnelCritical incident stress
management (CISM)Member assistance programs
(MAPs)
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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 cultureFire department’s historyExample 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:DepartmentWorking teamIndividual
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Firefighter safety is dependent on all partners holding up their responsibilities: (A) administration, (B) teams, and (C) individual firefighters.
(A) (B) (C)
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The Department Fire chiefs must create and enforce:
RulesProceduresExpectations
Health and safety committeeDevelop standard proceduresImplement risk management planResearch and purchase appropriate
equipmentAwareness training
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The TeamHolds up its part of the safety
partnershipUtilize ICS“Buddies”Look after each other
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The Individual FirefighterReadinessEach individual must fill a role. Perform as trained.FreelancingIncident engagement checklistUse 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 LearnedFirefighter safety dependent on many
factors70 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 preventionSafety triad between administration,
working teams, firefighterIndividual safe habits and attitudes