The national push to reduce line-of-duty injuries

As it stands today, there is no comprehensive national system to collect data on firefighter injuries

November 09, 2011 12:09 PM •

Editor’s note: The number of firefighter injuries fell to a two-decade low in 2010, according to a report by the NFPA released Tuesday. Chief Adam K. Thiel welcomes the news and outlines national efforts to reduce them further.

There’s no question that this story is good news for the fire service.

While we (rightly) focus a lot of time, attention, and effort toward preventing line-of-duty deaths, in my experience a lot of our brothers and sisters are irreparably harmed by line-of-duty injuries.

It’s important to note, however, that the figures cited in this story are estimates of firefighter injuries based on NFPA’s survey; they do not represent the actual incidence of firefighter LODIs in the United States.

As it stands today, there is no comprehensive national system to collect data on firefighter injuries.

There is a DHS Assistance to Firefighters Grant-funded effort under way to help define the requirements for such a system through Drexel University’s Firefighter Injury Research and Safety Trends (FIRST) project.

Check it out and stay safe!

Safety

Adam K. Thiel

Adam K. Thiel is the fire commissioner and director of the Office of Emergency Management in the city of Philadelphia. Thiel previously served as a fire chief in the National Capital Region and as a state fire director for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Thiel’s operational experience includes serving with distinction in four states as a chief officer, incident commander, company officer, hazardous materials team leader, paramedic, technical rescuer, structural/wildland firefighter and rescue diver. He also directly participated in response and recovery efforts for several major disasters, including the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Tropical Storm Gaston and Hurricane Isabel.