Overview of 2007 Firefighter Injuries

80,100 firefighter injuries occurred in the line of duty in 2007, a decrease of 4 percent from the year before.

38,340 or 47.9 percent of all firefighter injuries occurred during fireground operations. An estimated 15,435 occurred at nonfire emergencies, while 13,665 occurred during other on-duty activities.

Regionally, the Northeast had the highest fireground injury rate, with 4.9 injuries occurring per 100 fires. This was more than twice the rate for the rest of the country.
The major types of injuries received during fireground operations were strains, sprains, and muscular pains, responsible for 45.1 percent; wounds, cuts, bleeding, and bruises for 18.2 percent; burns for 6.9 percent; and smoke or gas inhalation for 5.6 percent. Strains, sprains, and muscular pain accounted for 57.8 percent of all non-fireground injuries. Firefighters work in varied and complex environments that increase their risk of on-the-job death and injury. A better understanding of how these fatalities, nonfatal injuries, and illnesses occur can help identify corrective actions that could help minimize the inherent risks.

Each year, NFPA studies firefighter deaths and injuries to provide national statistics on their frequency, extent, and characteristics. Earlier this year, NFPA reported that 103 firefighters died on duty (see “2007 Firefighter Fatalities ,” NFPA Journal July/August 2008).

This report addresses 2007 firefighter injuries in the United States. The results are based on data collected during the 2007 NFPA Survey of Fire Departments for U.S. Fire Experience. An earlier report measured the national fire experience in terms of the number of fires that fire departments attended and the resulting civilian deaths, civilian injuries, and property losses that occurred.1

This year’s report includes among its results:

An estimate of the total number of 2007 firefighter injuries.
Estimates of the number of injuries by type of duty.
An estimate of the number of exposures to infectious diseases.
Trends in firefighter injuries and rates.
Fireground injuries by cause.
Fire department vehicle accidents and resulting firefighter injuries.
The average number of fires and fireground injuries per department by the population of the community protected.
Descriptions of selected incidents that illustrate firefighter safety problems.

Overall results
Based on survey data reported by fire departments, NFPA estimates that 80,100 firefighter injuries occurred in the line of duty in 2007.2 This is a decrease of 4 percent and back to the 2005 level. In recent years, the number of firefighter injuries has been considerably lower than it was in the 1980s and 1990s, but this is due in part to additional questions about exposures, which allow us to place them in their own categories (see Figure 1 ). Previously, some of these exposures may have been included in total injuries under other categories.

NFPA estimates that there were 13,450 exposures to infectious diseases, such as hepatitis, meningitis, HIV, and others in 2007. This amounts to 0.9 exposures per 1,000 emergency medical runs by fire departments in 2007.

NFPA estimates that there were 28,300 exposures to hazardous conditions such as asbestos, radioactive materials, chemicals, fumes, and others in 2007. This amounts to 26.2 exposures per 1,000 hazardous condition runs in 2007.

An estimated 16,350 injuries, or 20.4 percent of all firefighter injuries, resulted in lost time in 2007.

Injuries by type of duty
Estimates of firefighter injuries by type of duty are displayed in Table 2 and Figure 3 . As in past reports, type of duty is divided into five categories:

Responding to, or returning from, an incident, including both fires and nonfire emergencies.

Fireground, which includes structure fires, vehicle fires, brush fires, and so on, refers to all activities from the moment of arrival at the scene to departure time, such as set-up, extinguishment, and overhaul.
Nonfire emergency, which includes rescue calls, hazardous calls such as spills, and natural disaster calls.

Training.
Other on-duty activities, such as inspection or maintenance duties.
Results by type of duty indicate, not surprisingly, that the largest share of injuries occurs during fireground operations: 38,340 or 47.9 percent of all firefighter injuries in 2007, similar to the 2002–2003 level. Table 1 displays firefighter injuries at the fireground and injury rates for the 19812007 period. Injuries at the fireground decreased from their high of 67,500 in 1981 to a low of 36,880 in 2004, for a decrease of 45.4 percent. The rate of injuries per 1,000 fires generally decreased during the period except for 2005–2006. This is because the number of fires also decreased a considerable 46.4 percent for the 1981 to 2004 period (see Figure 2 ).

In addition to injuries at the fireground, an estimated 15,435 or 19.3 percent of injuries occurred at nonfire emergencies, while 13,665 or 17.1 percent occurred during other on-duty activities.

Here's a few questions to ponder;
What are you doing personally to decrease the risk and increase safety to you and your partner, your company, your station or your department?
Do you think the recent efforts in firefighter injury and LODD reduction efforts is making an impression on the fire service?
Do YOU believe you can make a difference in changing the safety culture of the fire service?
Are firefighter injuries and LODD acceptable, are they part of the job in your perspective?

Remember; The 16 Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives
Define and advocate the need for a cultural change within the fire service relating to safety; incorporating leadership, management, supervision, accountability and personal responsibility.
Enhance the personal and organizational accountability for health and safety throughout the fire service.
Focus greater attention on the integration of risk management with incident management at all levels, including strategic, tactical, and planning responsibilities.
All firefighters must be empowered to stop unsafe practices.
Develop and implement national standards for training, qualifications, and certification (including regular recertification) that are equally applicable to all firefighters based on the duties they are expected to perform.
Develop and implement national medical and physical fitness standards that are equally applicable to all firefighters, based on the duties they are expected to perform.
Create a national research agenda and data collection system that relates to the initiatives.
Utilize available technology wherever it can produce higher levels of health and safety.
Thoroughly investigate all firefighter fatalities, injuries, and near misses.
Grant programs should support the implementation of safe practices and/or mandate safe practices as an eligibility requirement.
National standards for emergency response policies and procedures should be developed and championed.
National protocols for response to violent incidents should be developed and championed.
Firefighters and their families must have access to counseling and psychological support.
Public education must receive more resources and be championed as a critical fire and life safety program.
Advocacy must be strengthened for the enforcement of codes and the installation of home fire sprinklers.
Safety must be a primary consideration in the design of apparatus and equipment.
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