This March marks the 10th anniversary of the groundbreaking Life Safety Summit that was the first attempt by the fire service to curb line-of-duty deaths. Out of that summit came the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation’s (NFFF’s) now-familiar Everyone Goes Home program, along with 16 Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives that have shaped the way fire organizations and departments have addressed firefighter safety.
A second summit will be held March 10ࢀ“12, 2014ࢀ”10 years to the day after the first summitࢀ”at the same hotel in Tampa, Fla. Organizers of this year’s Life Safety Summit hope to expand on and update the efforts from the first event. “For 10 years now, we’ve been following the strategy that came out of that summit,” says Ron Siarnicki, executive director of the NFFF. “Now we want to revisit the initiatives, discuss changes, check to see if we’re current. We want to ask where we go from here. What does the next 10 years look like?”
A Look Back
Siarnicki recalls the decision to hold the 2004 summit, which came at a turning point in the fire service. “We started thinking about it after September 11ࢀ”with the attacks and other firefighter deaths that year; they were running out of room on the firefighters’ memorial,” he says. “That’s when our foundation board and staff thought about getting proactive about the prevention of deaths.”
For that summit, the NFFF leadership invited representatives from all national fire service organizations and others who were leaders in their field. A total of 278 people showed up to participate. After an opening session, those attendees broke up into six “domains,” so that smaller groups could work on addressing individual causes of firefighter line-of-duty deaths. The domains included health and wellness, structural firefighting, wildland operation, vehicle safety, training, and reducing fires.
“We took a think-tank approachࢀ”we looked at education, leadership approaches, barriers,” Siarnicki explains. “Each group reported its recommendations, and we merged everything into a master document.” That document became the 16 Life Safety Initiatives.
A Decade of Life-Saving Efforts
Since the 2004 summit, the fire service has seen a 26% reduction in fatalities. Can this be attributed to the Life Safety Initiatives? “Yes, I think so,” Siarnicki says, “but the reduction in line-of-duty deaths was a result of all of the fire service’s efforts in bringing attention to the issue. It’s been everyone’s effort.”
What to Expect in 2014
The upcoming summit will look much the same as the 2004 meeting on the surface. The meeting will follow the same basic structure of breaking off into smaller groups, though the “domains” may change. (Planning was still underway at the time this article was written.)
The group will certainly address what Siarnicki calls the “low-hanging fruit”ࢀ”firefighter heart attacks and vehicle accidents. “And we’ll have to look at changes in fire tactics; this is the biggest change we’ve seen in the fire service, including the recent research done on changes in construction materials and furnishings,” he adds.
Another change: narrowing the focus (at least partly) to the company officer. “This time around, we’ll focus more on the company officer or small-department level. There is a lot of decision-making at the company officer level that has an impact on firefighter deaths,” Siarnicki explains. “The toughest transition is to go from buddy to boss when a firefighter is promoted to supervisor. We hope to help them make that transition, and help them follow safe practices.”
JoEllen Kelly, project manager for the summit, says that, “Our focus is on reaffirming the initiatives.” However, she stresses, the group is open to change. “A new generation has come of age since 2004, and there’s been a big turnover in fire service leadership in the last decadeࢀ”as in any industry,” she points out. “These young leaders have to understand that this is theirs to carry now. They should have insights into how to share this, how to make [the message] work for them.”
With that in mind, Siarnicki stresses that all are welcome to participate. “We’ll involve the same organizations, and would like to get some fresh blood to ensure new thoughts and perspectives,” Siarnicki says. “We’re looking for individuals who want to participate.”
If you’re interested in taking part in the Life Safety Summit, email Kelly at jkelly@everyonegoeshome.com.
The final report from the summit will be available on the NFFF website at www.firehero.org.
Sidebar – The Original Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives
1. 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.
