|
Quincy, MA,
May 15, 2000 – According to a recent report by the nonprofit NFPA, 112
on-duty firefighter fatalities occurred in 1999, marking the highest annual
U.S. firefighter death toll since 1989 (118). The report cites an increase
of 21 deaths from 1998, and also indicates that stress and overexertion,
usually resulting in heart attacks, continue to be the leading cause of
fatal injury for on-duty U.S. firefighters.
"We need
to recognize what has caused last year's increase in fatalities, and take
the necessary steps to reverse the trend," says Rita Fahy, NFPA manager
of fire databases and systems, and co-author of the report. "Incident
management, the use of PASS devices and accountability systems, safe driving
practices, and increased attention to firefighter health and fitness are
essential to making real reductions in on-duty firefighter fatalities."
NFPA's report
shows that 57 fatalities were attributed to stress or overexertion. Fifty
of those fatalities resulted from heart attacks, which annually have accounted
for approximately half of the total deaths. But, while the proportion
of deaths from heart attacks has held fairly steady in the time NFPA has
published its report, the number of heart attack deaths had been
declining markedly, until 1999.
The second-leading
cause of fatal injuries to on-duty firefighters was entrapment, which
resulted in 24 deaths in 1999. Firefighters struck by, or having contact
with an object caused 21 deaths, making it the third-leading cause. Of
those 21 fatalities, 11 deaths were caused by motor vehicle crashes, and
eight deaths were caused as a result of victims being struck by motor
vehicles.
"The
increased number of U.S. firefighter fatalities in 1999, and the diverse
circumstances of those deaths are sobering reminders that fire fighting
remains one of today's most physically and mentally-demanding jobs," says
Gary Tokle, a former fire chief and NFPA's assistant vice president for
public fire protection. "In our effort to keep firefighters safer, NFPA
has developed dozens of standards to protect them. One example is NFPA
1582, Medical Requirements for Fire Fighters and Information for Fire
Department Physicians, 2000 Edition, which contains requirements for
an annual medical evaluation, critically important to preventing heart
attacks. Decreases in on-duty fatalities in recent decades have been credited
in previous reports to improvements in equipment, fitness, and training
standards."
According
to NFPA's report, although on-duty firefighter fatalities have declined
over the past two decades, the rate of deaths per million structure fires
has dropped very little, and the rate of deaths in collisions per million
structure fires while responding to alarms has more than doubled. The
six-fatality structure fire in Worcester, Massachusetts, in December,
followed soon thereafter by a fire in Iowa where three firefighters and
three small children were killed, briefly focused the nation's attention
on the continued dangers of fire fighting. The recent findings from NFPA's
report may create similar attention.
"It's possible
that changes in equipment and clothing have allowed firefighters to be
more aggressive at fires," says Ms. Fahy. "However, the lack of on-scene
accountability of personnel operating at the fire ground as one component
of incident management has exposed firefighters to greater dangers. Taking
the time to re-evaluate departmental command techniques is an important
means of reducing the risks with which firefighters are faced."
The largest
proportion of deaths in 1999 by type of duty occurred on the fire ground
(50%). Another 32 deaths occurred while responding to or returning from
alarms (29%), 10 at on-scene non-fire emergencies (9%), 10 while performing
non-emergency-related on-duty activities (9%), and four during training
activities (4%).
Since NFPA
began reporting U.S. firefighter fatalities in 1977, the greatest number
occurred in 1978 (172) and the fewest occurred in 1992 (75). Overall,
firefighter fatalities dropped from an average of 151 deaths per year
in the late 1970s, to 127 in the 1980s, and to 97 in the 1990s.
NFPA has
tracked and analyzed U.S. on-duty firefighter fatalities for nearly 25
years, and its annual firefighter fatality report has been used throughout
the nation as an informational tool to reduce the number of firefighter
injuries and deaths. The report is updated annually, and will appear in
it entirety in the July / August issue of NFPA's member magazine, NFPA
Journal.
|
