Define and advocate
the need for a cultural change within the fire service
relating to safety; incorporating leadership, management,
supervision, accountability and personal responsibility.
2.
Enhance the personal
and organizational accountability for health and safety
throughout the fire service.
3.
Focus greater attention
on the integration of risk management with incident
management at all levels, including strategic, tactical,
and planning responsibilities.
4.
All firefighters
must be empowered to stop unsafe practices.
5.
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.
6.
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.
7.
Create a national
research agenda and data collection system that relates
to the initiatives.
8.
Utilize available
technology wherever it can produce higher levels of
health and safety.
9.
Thoroughly investigate
all firefighter fatalities, injuries, and near misses.
10.
Grant programs should
support the implementation of safe practices and/or
mandate safe practices as an eligibility requirement.
11.
National standards
for emergency response policies and procedures should
be developed and championed.
12.
National protocols
for response to violent incidents should be developed
and championed.
13.
Firefighters and
their families must have access to counseling and
psychological support.
14.
Public education
must receive more resources and be championed as a
critical fire and life safety program.
15.
Advocacy must be
strengthened for the enforcement of codes and the
installation of home fire sprinklers.
16.
Safety must be a
primary consideration in the design of apparatus and
equipment.
Source: National
Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) "EVERYBODY
GOES HOME®"
The Courage to Stay Safe
I'm sure by now all of you have seen the John Travolta movie
"Ladder 49". If the end of that movie didn't grip your
heart, then you are stone cold. Fortunately, in Garland, Texas
we have never had a firefighter fatality and I pray to God we
never do. I would never want to experience walking up to the household
of a firefighter's spouse to inform them of a lost loved one,
or feel the agonizing pain of losing a fellow firefighter and
friend.
Over the decades, we have been losing our fellow firefighters
for the same reasons. According to fire chiefs from metropolitan
areas who met in Florida in 2004 for the first of several life
safety summits, we know how we are killing firefighters, but we
are just not doing enough to prevent these losses. Every year
nationally we lose on average 100 firefighters and more than 80,000
are injured. Since that meeting in 2004, 16 firefighter safety
initiatives have been developed to take a major proactive approach
to preventing firefighter death and injuries.
The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) has had a
major part in birthing this movement. The "Everyone Goes
Home" (EGH) initiative was born from the NFFF which has led
to "The Courage to Stay Safe" program. Out of the EGH,
Life Safety Advocates have been developed which represent the
10 FEMA regions where they serve as regional coordinators. In
turn, those coordinators manage advocates in the states and propagate
train-the-trainer courses to get the word out.
"The Courage to Stay Safe" was conceived and developed
by the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation's Firefighter Life
Safety Initiatives Program Team, with assistance from Deputy Chief
Billy Goldfeder of the Loveland-Symmes (OH) Fire Department and
FDNY Battalion Chief John Salka in response to a request by Pennsylvania
Fire Commissioner Ed Mann to develop a program aimed at Line-of-Duty
Death Prevention.
Since 1984, we've lost 3,300 brothers and sisters of the fire
service. My own State of Texas ranks 4th behind New York, California,
and Pennsylvania in firefighter deaths. "The Courage to Stay
Safe" program is based on the 16 firefighter safety initiatives.
The goal is to reduce deaths by 25% in 2009 and 50% by 2014. The
25% focuses on preventing deaths by enforcing some of the easier
methods like wearing seat belts. The 50% goal reaches into the
realm of physical fitness. Since we have been keeping statistics,
more firefighters die from heart attacks than anything else. We
need to eat right and get fit! Many departments have been implementing
body scans and calcium scoring to help predict cardiac problems
before they manifest themselves on the emergency scene.
We know where our problems lie. We just need to get serious about
prevention. I hope you will take an active part in this new life
initiative. If you would like more information or would like an
active part in this program, visit their website at www.everyonegoeshome.com.
You can find all the relevant links there.
Until next time, Be Safe!
Jeff Tokar
FETN Director of Education
TWL Knowledge Group Jeff.Tokar@TWLK.com
972-309-5065, 1-800-624-2272 ext. 5065
