The Second Firefighter Life Safety
Summit: TAMPA2
Chief Ronald J. Siarnicki  Metropolitan Fire Chiefs  June 4, 2014
Everyone Goes
®
Home
In 2004, the NFFF expanded its mission to
include the prevention of firefighter injuries and
line-of-duty deaths through the Everyone Goes
Home® program and the 16 Firefighter Life
Safety Initiatives.
®
3
1st
National Firefighter Life Safety Summit
Tampa - March 2004
Objective: Produce a consensus
agenda among the leading fire service
organizations to reduce LODDs
248 participants from the United States
and Canada.
What are the 16 Initiatives?
5
16 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.
Reduce Accidents, Injuries, Fatalities
What the
NFFF is doing
to make this
occur.
Initiatives in
action.
7
Firefighter Line of Duty Deaths in the US
120
117
110
113
115
110
107
100
98
94
90
90
80
82
74
70
74
60
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Source: National Fallen Firefighter Foundation
Total 1981-2011: 3,612
10 years later …
2nd
National Firefighter Life Safety Summit
TAMPA2)
To note a milestone in fire service history
To revisit what was produced in 2004
 To renew the mission
To inspire the next generation of leaders
(aka
• More than 330 participants
• Attendees represented 43 states plus the District of
Columbia and Canada
• 47 up and comers invited to participate via scholarships
• More than 2,500 combined years fire service experience
Sunday March 10th
The Assessment Idea
In 2010, the NFFF accepted a request from
United States Fire Administrator Kelvin Cochran
to oversee the development of a Risk Assessment Tool—the
Vulnerability Assessment Program or VAP—that will reduce
firefighter line-of-duty deaths and injuries.
U.S. Fire Administration
The Vision
 A fire chief or firefighter will answer questions online about
his or her fire department.
 The VAP tool will assess the vulnerability in that fire
department to firefighter injury and death.
 The VAP tool will prioritize and summarize the vulnerability
and provide the user with actionable information and
resources to address these vulnerabilities.
 The results of this survey will give chiefs the actual data they
need when they identify needs and seek resources.
THE VAP IS FREE AND CONFIDENTIAL
High Level Contributing Factors—Root Causes
Extraordinary
Unpredictable
Events
Ineffective
Decisions
Act of Nature
Accidental
Act of Violence
Ineffective
Policies &
Procedures
Ineffective
Leadership
Lack of Personal
Responsibility
Civilian Error
Command
Accountability
Equipment
Decision Making
Communication
Incident Safety
Officer
Fitness & Wellness
Fatigue
Unpredictable
Event
Human Error
Crew Size/Staffing
Teamwork
Horseplay
Planning
Unknown/Other
Situational
Awareness
Dangerous
Substance
Motor Vehicle
Training
Structural Failure
Emergency
Vehicle
RIT
SOP/SOGs
Lack of
Preparation
Contributing Factors Breakdown Examples
Motor Vehicle
Excessive speed during response
Emergency response mode used for non-emergency incident
Failure to develop policy for POV use and response
Failure to use seatbelts
Failure to properly maintain vehicle
Inappropriate use of vehicle - not designed for road conditions
Weather-related defective road conditions
Defective road conditions (rain, ice, darkness, water accumulation)
Failure of roadway component (bridge, shoulder)
Failure to enforce seat belt use policy
POV mechanical failure (blowout, brake failure)
Unfamiliarity with roads
Failure to stop at stop sign or signal
Self-assigned response without being dispatched
VAP Support
The VAP has been awarded support and citations from:
 Center for Public Safety Excellence
 The United States Conference of Mayors
 CFSI National Advisory Committee
Proud Sponsors of the
Vulnerability Assessment
Program
10 Breakout Groups
Breakout Groups Managed by
NFFF Facilitator
CSU Facilitator
Scribe
NFFF Staff Support
330 Delegates Composed of
NFFF Survivor Representatives
Rural, Suburban and Urban Fire Chiefs
Academics
Government Representatives
Fire Service Associations
Corporate Representatives
Rural, Suburban and Urban Firefighters and
Fire Officers
Breakout Groups
Behavioral Health
Physical Health
Company Officer Development
Reducing Fire Occurrences
Firefighter Survivability
Thermal Assault
Leadership
Training and Education
Open Space Firefighting
Transportation Trauma
Charge to the Breakout Groups
1. Review the 16 FLSI for relevancy
2. Identify new and changing issues
3. Focus on specific HOT TOPICS
4. Produce Recommendations
Headlines
Retain the 16 Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives
•
•
Still very relevant
Need to be more targeted in terms of messaging to the fire
service and individual firefighters
•
Work on definitions and explanations
•
Closer connection to wildland community
Headlines
Increase the emphasis on occupational illnesses – particularly cancers
Promote the rapid integration of advances in fire dynamics into fire
suppression operations
Fire prevention and automatic sprinklers have to become higher priorities
Significant efforts have to be developed and delivered to support the
Company Level Officer and their leadership needs
Behavioral Health
• Integrate behavioral health training into recruit
training
• Stigma attached to behavioral health issues
• Emphasis on peer to peer interventions
• Behavioral health data
• Case studies
• Personal testimonies
Company Officer
• Develop a toolbox for company officers
• Develop mentorship programs
• All tools need to be scalable for department type
and size
• Emphasize importance and use of data
Training and Education
• Certification & Recertification at all levels
• Update Professional Qualifications Standards
• All firefighters trained to national certification
standards within 10 years
• Mandatory training to qualify for Fire Act
grants
• ZERO tolerance for training-related injuries
and fatalities
Leadership
• High level commitment is essential in every fire
department
• Company officers must institutionalize a personal
commitment to safety, survival, health & wellness
• Challenge the image of the firefighter as a risk taker
• Promote risk management
Open Space Fires
• Work on the relationship of the 16 FLSI to wildland
firefighting
• Wildland and structural communities must have
common core beliefs
• Consistent firefighter medical standards must be
followed by all agencies engaged in open space
firefighting.
Physical Health
• Develop and promote methods to reduce
exposures to carcinogens
• Identify measurable outcomes for firefighter
health improvement
• Mandatory medical and physical fitness
standards for all firefighters
Community Risk Reduction
•
Integral role in the duties and responsibilities of all
firefighters
•
All fire service members should be advocates for
codes – especially sprinklers
Roadway Safety
• Seatbelts
•
Promote and enforce move over laws
•
Risk-based emergency response policies - national
best practice guidelines
•
Mandatory driver training and licensing
•
Vehicle safety standards for fire apparatus
Scholarship Sponsors
OCTOBER 11-12, 2014
VISIT WEEKEND.FIREHERO.ORG
FOR MORE INFORMATION
• Questions?????
• Thank You.