The analysis in the NFPA’s firefighter injuries report is based on national fire department survey results and provides an estimated number of firefighter injuries in the United States. (There is no existing national system of recording/tracking actual firefighter injuries that occur both on and off the incident scene.)
The good news is that NFPA estimates a slight decrease in the number of injured firefighters from 2008 to 2009. The bad news is that we’re still injuring an estimated 78,150 of our sister and brother firefighters each year.
A quick look at the report reveals some interesting facts:
- 41 percent of firefighter injuries happened on the fireground
- 20 percent occurred during non-fire emergency incidents
- 23 percent happened while performing other on-duty activities
Of the estimated 32,205 fireground injuries, the leading type (48 percent) was strain, sprain, or muscular pain, which also represented almost 59 percent of the non-fireground injuries. Overexertion, strain, falls, slips, and jumps were the principal causes of fireground injuries in 2009.
You don’t need to be a statistician to draw some obvious conclusions based on these data.
First, regardless of how many fires occur each year, the fireground remains a dangerous and unpredictable place; other emergency scenes are not much better, including medical runs, vehicle crashes, hazmat incidents, technical rescues, and responding to/returning from calls.
Second, we can significantly reduce firefighter injuries by addressing the large number that occur each year during other on-duty activities.
Finally, it seems clear that while firefighters will always face risk in their work environment, there is a lot we can do, at all levels in our departments, to meaningfully reduce the occurrence of firefighter injuries
You can read the entire report, and NFPA’s recommendations for improving firefighter safety at the NFPA’s website.