Corey Conrady: The Rural Firefighter

This article is dedicated to all fire departments -- not just rural -- and the kinds of things we deal with as firefighters who live and serve in the communities we have grown up in.

This month again we will focus on the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation’s firefighters’ life safety initiatives.

The 7th initiative seeks to “Create a national research agenda and data collection system that relates to the 16 Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives.”

The 8th initiative seeks to “Utilize available technology wherever it can produce higher levels of health and safety.”

Research Agenda: An effort to identify particular areas in which research is needed to contribute to the mission of supporting the Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives of the Everyone Goes Home Program (NFFF).

The result is intended to assist the many different organizations and individuals that have a role in conducting, supporting, and encouraging research projects to focus their efforts and resources on the areas that have been identified as important and significant by a group that represents the diverse interests and priorities of the fire service -- all with the overarching goal of eliminating preventable firefighter line-of-duty-injuries and fatalities.

Communication with all fire departments in clear and concise ways is critical to improving the safety of firefighters. Acknowledging the need for research and data was an important step for the fire service to take in 2004. Now it is critical that the identified research be conducted, and the results be transferred and implemented at the local levels. This is the only way that research will impact the life safety of firefighters and the communities they serve.

The research indicates: The majority of fire departments in the country also require firefighters to be trained on five of the six types of recommendations addressed in this evaluation: using PPE (88.9%), fighting structure fires (82.8%), driving safety (77.7%), using radio communication devices (76.2%), using the Incident Command System (69.9%), and maintaining SCBA (60.3%). However, only 7% of the fire departments have a required physical fitness training program, and most (60.9 %) fire departments do not require firefighters to be screened for CVD risk factors and CVD.

Most fire departments (84.0%) ensure that firefighters responsible for driving emergency vehicles receive driver training before being allowed to operate the vehicles. However, in focus group discussions, frontline firefighters said they need to be trained in the class of the vehicle and that home responders need additional training. Most fire departments (84.2%) require their firefighters to wear seat belts while in emergency vehicles, although frontline firefighters say many still are not using them.

Research is driven by accurate and timely data, good input good output!

Technology: A major study conducted in 2006 by the United States Fire Administration and the National Fire Protection Association focused on the needs of U.S. fire departments. Where technology is concerned, the fire service is certainly gaining ground but lags in important indicators. For instance, 24% of fire departments lack internet access, which means they lack access to information about emerging technology and actual web-based technologies.

An estimated 60% of fire departments do not have enough self-contained breathing apparatus to equip all firefighters on a shift. Three-fifths (60%) of fire departments have at least some SCBA units that are at least 10 years old.

An estimated half (48%) of fire departments do not have enough personal alert system (PASS) devices to equip all their firefighters. These are basics, second nature to many of us, and yet we forget that tens of thousands of firefighters are responding to everyday dangerously lacking basic levels of safety (USFA, Four Years Later—A Second Needs Assessment of the U.S. Fire Service, 2006).

Regarding new and emerging technology, the USFA/NFPA study found the following:

A majority (55%) of fire departments now own thermal imaging cameras, and another one-fourth have plans to acquire them. A previous survey (2001) reported that 24% of departments had such cameras, and the majority of those without them had no plans to acquire one.

Only one department in 17 had mobile data terminals (6% of departments, up 4% from 2001), though the majority of fire departments protecting at least 100,000 population have them. Most departments without mobile data terminals (69% overall) still have no plans to acquire them.

Only one department in 31 has advanced personnel location equipment, though one-fourth of the fire departments protecting communities of at least 500,000 population have them.

Only one department in 18 has the equipment to collect chemical or biological samples for remote analysis, though most of the fire departments protecting communities of at least 100,000 population have such equipment.

A Fire Stop Your on Jan. 10, 2023, found these facts to still exist, despite our vast technological advances:

During a fire today, you have the least amount of time to safely exit your burning home than at any time in history.

Your chance of dying in a fire today is higher than 40 years ago. Fire deaths, injuries, and displacement disproportionately affect lower-income communities and people of color.

Safe and affordable housing should not be mutually exclusive. A compounding problem in cities across America is that those who survive are displaced long-term or become homeless due to a lack of personal or local resources.

A total of 99 million people -- or a third of the U.S. population -now live in the Wildland Urban Interface environment, yet most have no idea what WUI is or the dangers it poses.

Fire departments across the United States, both career and volunteer, are experiencing dramatic personnel shortages. This situation is a national problem and without intervention will continue to worsen, affecting the ability to meet emergency call volume demand in many areas.

Technology, including micromobility products powered by lithium-ion batteries, is providing a new wave of fire causes.

Automatic fire suppression systems like sprinklers save lives, yet resistance to these devices remains.

There are several tools to guide the process. One such tool is the Vulnerability Assessment Program (VAP) administered by the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. This free assessment is available to all fire departments—volunteer, career, industrial, fire/EMS, and combination services.

Until next time, remember to look out for one another, in the smoke and at the station. Everyone Goes Home!

The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation leads an “Everyone Goes Home” Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives” plan on their web page www. everyonegoeshome.com/16-initiatives that lists 16 attitude initiatives, we as the fire service should strive to implement in our departments.

The National Safety Culture Change Initiative (NSCCI) was developed to advocate for the need for culture change for health and safety within the fire service. This effort is led by the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), in partnership with the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA). www.ffsafetyculture.org/ www.firehero.org/2023/01/09/fire-stop-tour-january-10-12-2023/

• Warriors Rest Foundation, Brett Key, 405-252-7489

We would like to take this opportunity to say thank you from the bottom of our hearts to all first responders who have spent countless hours selflessly serving our communities during this unprecedented time.

• First Responders Against Suicide, the Facebook page is also available to message, they are first responders

Oklahoma

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1-800-273-8255 (or go to website for chat)

• National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357)

• Crisis Text Line, text HOME to 741741

• OSFA office, 405-424-1452 (will respond within 48 hours)

• Corey Conrady, 580-540-0970 (call or text anytime)

• Oklahoma Fire Service Chaplains, Gary Lillie, Hawley FD, 580-541-5980 (the Facebook page has info for other area contacts)

By Greg Lindsay OKC Fire Department Greg