NFPA selects theme for Fire Prevention Week
Prevent Cooking Fires: Watch What You Heat” will be the theme for Fire Prevention Week 2006, October 8-14. In making the announcement, the National Fire Protection Association, sponsor of Fire Prevention Week for more than 80 years, notes that cooking fires cause the greatest number of home fires and injuries in the country annually. Additional information is at www.firepreventionweek.org/.
IOM: “U.S. emergency care system unable to respond to disasters”
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) has reported that “the nation’s emergency care system is fragmented and stretched to the breaking point, as well as severely compromised in its ability to handle disasters.” Dr. Rick Blum, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), said the reports prepared on the state of the system call for a “more patient-focused system” and the “end to the gridlock in emergency departments.”
A three-year study of the problems in the nation’s emergency system has shown that “only a tiny fraction of federal funding for emergency preparedness since 9/11 has been spent on medical preparedness”-4 percent of $3.38 billion distributed by the Department of Homeland Security for emergency preparedness in 2002 and 2003 and 5 percent of the funding from the Bioterrorism Hospital Preparedness Program.
Blum is proposing that Congress convene a hearing on the state of emergency medicine in this country and dedicate funding to the emergency care system to support disaster preparedness. He said the Access to Emergency Medical Services Act (H.R. 3875 and S. 2750) would be a first step in addressing the three major problems identified in the IOM reports:
1. The practice of “boarding” admitted patients in emergency departments until inpatient beds become available, which causes medical care gridlock.
2. The liability risk of caring for emergency patients, which is deterring many medical specialists from being on-call to emergency departments.
3. The continuing decline in payments for emergency medical care that threatens the entire emergency care infrastructure.
The reports also call for “a seamless coordination of services from a patient’s point of view, which will require continuous communication and coordination among 9-1-1 and dispatch, ambulance, and EMS workers, hospital emergency departments and trauma centers, and the medical specialists supporting these facilities.
The IOM advocates a highly coordinated, regionalized, and accountable emergency care system under the auspices of one lead federal agency that will consolidate many of the government programs related to emergency and trauma care.
House DHS Appropriations Bill boosts allocations for firefighter programs
The House of Representatives, in early June, passed the Homeland Security Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2007 (H.R. 5441), which provides $32.1 billion in discretionary spending for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It also contains $543.1 million for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program (AFG) and $112.1 million for the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program. The House Appropriations Committee had originally designated only $500 million for the AFG program and $40 million for the SAFER program.
During consideration of H.R. 5441 on the floor of the House, however, two amendments to increase AFG and SAFER funding were adopted by a voice vote. In May, the House passed an amendment offered by Reps. Martin Sabo (D-MN), Steny Hoyer (D-MD), John Sweeney (R-NY), Curt Weldon (R-PA), Rob Andrews (D-NJ), Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH), Tim Murphy (R-PA), and Jeb Bradley (R-NH) to increase funding for AFG to $541 million and SAFER to $110 million. After the Memorial Day recess, the House passed another amendment offered by Reps. Randy Kuhl (R-NY) and Tom Price (R-GA) to increase AFG and SAFER allotments by $2.1 million. At press time, it was reported that H.R. 5441 was to go to the Senate for consideration.
NFPA study cites increased firefighter training deaths over past 10 years
One hundred firefighter deaths have occurred during training within the past 10 years, despite the fact that the number of firefighter deaths overall has declined, according to a National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) report released in May. The 100 firefighters died while engaged in training-related activities from 1996 through 2005. Forty-seven were local volunteer firefighters, 39 were local career firefighters; the remaining 14 were from other organizations.
The largest number of firefighters died while participating in apparatus and equipment drills (36 deaths). Twenty-one of these 36 firefighters suffered sudden cardiac death.
The second largest number of training deaths (30) over the 10-year period occurred while firefighters were engaged in physical fitness training; 23 of these deaths were attributed to cardiac events.
Sudden cardiac death (usually heart attacks) is the number one cause of firefighter fatalities overall, and also of those that occur during training. Just a little more than half of the firefighters who died while training during the 10-year period died from sudden cardiac events (53 of the 100 deaths).
U.S. haz-mat transporting regulations adjusted to international standards
Recent changes in U.S. haz-mat transport rules would adopt the standards for the packaging and labeling of infectious substances currently used for international transport. Infectious substances are considered “hazardous materials” because they have the potential to spread disease. Other such materials include viruses, bacteria, diagnostic specimens, and medical waste.
The Department of Transportation (DOT) rule was adopted June 2. The final rule takes effect October 1. It sets new classification criteria, establishes new exceptions, and revises packaging and hazard-communication standards for U.S. domestic transport that are consistent with the 13th and 14th editions of the “U.N. Recommendations for the Transport of Dangerous Goods,” the 2005-2006 edition of the “International Civil Aviation Organization Technical Instructions for the Sale Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air,” and the “International Maritime Organization Dangerous Goods Code,” according to DOT. The new standards “will ensure an acceptable level of safety for the transportation of infectious substances and facilitate domestic and international transportation,” DOT explains. Http://www.fs-world.com/Show.asp?ID=6125 www.fs-world.com June 6, 2006.
USFA and IAFF launch online emergency vehicle safety program
A new, online vehicle safety program, an outgrowth of the partnership with several leading fire service organizations participating in the Emergency Vehicle Safety Initiative, is available at http://www.iaff.org/evsp/. Developed by the U.S. Fire Administration and the International Association of Fire Fighters, it is designed to increase firefighters’ awareness of safety issues when riding on fire apparatus and operating at emergency roadway scenes. In 2005, 26 of the 106 line-of-duty deaths were caused by emergency vehicle accidents (the second leading cause of line-of-duty firefighter deaths).
The program addresses critical emergency vehicle safety issues, including seat belt use, intersection safety, roadway operations safety on crowded interstates and local roads, and driver training. It stresses the fact that all firefighters are responsible for their safety. Additional information about other USFA efforts in emergency vehicle safety is at http://www.usfa.fema.gov/research/safety/vehicle.shtm/.
Public-Private Fire Safety Council issues paper on home fire deaths
A white paper outlining major strategies for reducing the annual death toll from home fires is the first in a series of papers planned by the Public-Private Fire Safety Council. The Council is a 16-member partnership of federal agencies and nongovernment organizations created to develop a coordinated national effort to eliminate residential fire deaths by the year 2020. Members on the Council include leaders in public fire safety education, research, and codes and standards.
The impetus for the paper on home fire deaths was a fire in Tennessee in which nine family members died. The paper provides an overview of the elements of a smoke-alarm strategy to reduce fire deaths: how various programs work, the nation’s performance record, and areas where new initiatives and research would be particularly useful.
The participation of these agencies and organizations in developing fire safety programs “will help to avoid duplication, fill in gaps, and to reinforce the effects on public safety,” says Dr. Denis Onieal, superintendent of the U.S. National Fire Academy.
John Hall, assistant vice president for Fire Analysis and Research at the National Fire Protection Association, explained that for nearly a decade, the nation has not been able to move below the number of Americans killed by fire in the United States each year (just above 3,000). Smoke alarms, he notes, offer a real chance to lower the number of home fire victims. Yet, he says, smoke alarms are either missing or not working in about a quarter of the homes across the United States.
The white paper may be downloaded at www.firesafety.gov/. For information on the paper, contact Joe Hirschmugl at (847) 664-1508.
USFA releases confined structure fires reports
The U.S. Fire Administration has published “Investigation of Confined Structure Fires,” the first report in its Topical Fire Research series.
The report focuses on confined structure fires (fires that generally are confined to noncombustible containers, rarely result in serious injury or large content losses, and that are expected to have no accompanying property losses attributable to flame damage). The report is based on the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) 2002 database.
According to the report, there were approximately 52,000 reported confined structure fire incidents in 2002, which accounted for 37 percent of reported structure fires and 38 percent of residential structure fires. More than half of these structure fires are cooking fires. The full report can be downloaded at http://www.usfa.fema.gov/statistics/reports/pubs/confined-structure-fires.shtm/.
IAFC clarifies role in mutual-aid initiatives
The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) National Fire Service Mutual Aid System (IMAS) and Mutual Aid System Task Force (MASTF) were developed to help the fire service support the National Response Plan and implement concepts in the National Incident Management System (NIMS), according to the IAFC.
IMAS addresses mutual aid within the states; MASTF focuses on mutual aid between the states.
IMAS, funded by the NIMS Integration Center within the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), supports the creation of formalized, comprehensive, practiced intrastate mutual-aid plans. The state fire chiefs associations are assisting the states in developing formal, comprehensive mutual-aid plans for efficiently mobilizing and deploying fire service assets to incidents within their states. The plans will serve as a model other emergency services and disciplines can adapt to fit their needs, says the IAFC. Ten states will participate in the first year of this project; it is anticipated that another 10 states will participate in the second year.
The MASTF is to complete by this fall a plan for improving the sharing of resources across state lines. In performing its task, the task force reviewed lessons learned from recent national disasters relative to how to mobilize and deploy fire service resources to large-scale incidents across state lines most efficiently and effectively. MASTF is intended to be a component within EMAC, the Emergency Management Assistance Compact Congress created to provide form and structure to interstate mutual aid, stresses the IAFC. EMAC provides the mechanism for a disaster-impacted state to request and receive assistance from other members’ states quickly and efficiently.
The objective is to have each state have a formal mutual-aid agreement that contains detailed plans, protocols, or training exercises to support integrating the plans into an operations process, bringing to the state emergency system a functional plan that will enhance the state’s ability to manage and deploy the state’s fire service resources during critical incidents. IMAS does not replace any state mutual-aid compact; it “adds interdisciplinary depth,” explains the IAFC. Additional information is at www.iafc.org/mutualaid/.
IAFF develops policy and recommendations for a flu pandemic
The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) has issued a response plan for firefighters and paramedics in the United States and Canada to follow should a pandemic flu outbreak occur. The proposals and guidelines are designed for state, provincial, and local IAFF affiliates.
“The U.S. National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza,” released in November, the IAFF notes, puts much of the responsibility for planning for a pandemic response on state and local agencies. In Canada, provincial and city governments will have significant responsibility.
The “Strategy” does not list the fire service as a stakeholder group in either country, the IAFF points out. “Both federal governments must require fire service involvement in all pandemic planning that occurs under the auspices of a national strategy,” the IAFF stresses.
Also, says the IAFF, “Because firefighters and emergency medical personnel will be called on to respond to this potential national emergency, federal funds must be made available to ensure that IAFF members have the proper training and personal protective equipment, especially proper respirators, to respond safely and effectively.”
The IAFF is asking that a single agency be appointed to manage preparedness and emergency response efforts for all infectious disease pandemics and that firefighters and emergency medical personnel who are injured or die as a result of receiving the flu vaccine or any prophylactic or antiviral treatment be considered as having been injured or killed in the line of duty. Because receiving these treatments is voluntary, local governments may be able to claim that such illnesses are not job-related, the IAFF says, and, therefore, the federal government needs to address this problem.
• A vaccine injury compensation fund should be established in the United States and Canada for first responders harmed by the vaccine. Vaccine manufacturers and those who administer the vaccine have been offered immunity from liability through recent Homeland Security legislation.
• Because all disasters and emergencies are dealt with locally, each local fire and emergency medical department must collaborate with its local government, public health department, and community stakeholders to devise a plan of action.
• It is critical for IAFF affiliates to have representatives on these task forces to ensure that policy and care delivery models are developed with first responders’ concerns at the forefront.
• IAFF affiliates should also work to ensure that any member who experiences any adverse reaction from the vaccine be provided with immediate medical and follow-up care at no cost to the firefighter. Furthermore, any firefighter or emergency medical personnel who have an adverse reaction to the vaccine and cannot perform their duties should be entitled to receive occupational disability benefits as provided by the employer for on-duty injuries or illnesses for the duration of the disability. Any leave of absence associated with an adverse reaction should be immediately classified and treated as a line-of-duty injury, and all medical costs associated with the vaccination and adverse reaction treatment must be borne by the employer.
The full text of the IAFF guidance on the avian flu pandemic and other related information is at www.iaff.org/.
USFA offers Mayday Training CD-ROM
The two courses on the Mayday Training CD-ROM can be incorporated into Firefighter I and II curricula or used for in-service training for experienced firefighters. The “Calling the Mayday: Hands-On Training for Firefighters” (H134) eight-hour course includes an instructor’s manual, job performance requirements, and skills-check forms. “Firefighter Safety: Calling the Mayday” (Q133) includes a 40-minute video presentation.
Students must pass written criteria testing with 100 percent accuracy to receive certificates. Fire departments and state fire training academies can request the CD-ROM through the U.S. Fire Administration’s Publications Center. Authorities having jurisdiction, fire chiefs, or department training officers must certify that students have successfully passed all testing elements and submit students’ applications (FEMA Form 75-5) to the National Fire Academy (NFA) Admissions Office. NFA Certificates for H134 and Q133 will be sent to the students’ organizations for distribution to graduates.
To request the CD-ROM, submit a written request on a department or organization letterhead signed by the chief or training officer to the following address: USFA Publications; Building I, Room 120; 16825 S. Seton Ave.; Emmitsburg, MD 21727, or fax the request to (301) 447-1213.
Air compressors recalled: may present fire and electrocution hazards
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Tap Enterprises, Inc., dba Cummins Industrial Tools, Spring Hill, Kansas, is recalling about 11,300 mini two-gallon pancake air compressors. The power cord is undersized and may overheat and cause a fire. Also, improper construction of the power cord creates a potential for electrical shock. The units were sold through mobile merchant sales, Web sites, and newspaper ads nationally from June 2004 through March 2006, Made in China, the item number is 2112. Additional information is at www.cumminstools.com/.
States report increase in human hantavirus
Health departments from Arizona, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas, and Washington State have reported an increase in the incidence of human hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) from January through March of this year. The disease, which has a mortality rate of 30 to 40 percent, is contracted through exposure to rodent saliva or feces. There is no formal treatment for HPS; early recognition, hospitalization, and aggressive pulmonary and hemodynamic support are part of the protocol but do not significantly affect the mortality rate. Signs and symptoms of HPS include headache, fever, and myalgia; bilateral diffuse interstitial edema of the lungs generally occurs within the next 72 hours. Thrombocytopenia, the presence of fibroblasts, and hemoconcentration are typically seen in lab tests. Doctors should report suspected cases to their state health departments. Additional information is at www.cdc.gov/hantavirus. Mortal Wkly Rep CDC Surveill Summ 2006;55:627-629. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/535740_print, June 14, 2006
Defibrillators recalled
MRL, a division of Welch Allyn, recalled in June 480 Model AED20 automatic external defibrillators, according to the Food and Drug Administration. A malfunction could prevent resuscitation of patients. The units were manufactured at the company’s plant in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, from April 2003 through October 2003. Serial numbers 205199 through 205786 are included in the recall.
According to a company press release: The defibrillators may “experience failure or unacceptable delay in analyzing the patient’s ECG and may fail to deliver appropriate therapy.” About 30 complaints had been received. MRL sent customers who purchased AED20s in the recalled group a letter by registered mail on June 14. Unit owners should contact MRl. www.medpagetoday.com/ProductAlert/Devices andVaccines/dh/3560, June 19, 2006
USFA/NFPA report aimed at reducing fatalities in fires involving smoking
“Smoking continues to be the number one cause of residential fire deaths, which justifies a new look at research about the role of behaviors in causing those deaths,” according to Acting Administrator Charlie Dickinson of the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA). The USFA and the National Fire Protection Association have jointly published “Behavioral Mitigation of Smoking Fires,” which offers research-based recommendations for reducing smoking fire fatalities in the United States.
Among the report’s findings are the following:
- Fires caused by smoking are more likely to involve a fire that begins very close to the victim.
- The percentage of fatalities of fires involving smoking materials are three times the percentage of fires attributed to other causes.
- Victims of these fires are less likely than victims of other types of fires to be saved by smoke alarms and other strategies and technologies that react after ignition. For these potential victims, there is no substitute for prevention.
- One in four fatal victims of these fires is not the smoker whose cigarette started the fire.
The USFA/NFPA strategy includes directing public service messages, such as the following, at specific audiences.
- If you smoke, smoke outside.
- Wherever you smoke, use deep, sturdy ashtrays. Ashtrays should be set on something sturdy and hard to ignite, like an end table.
- Before you throw out butts and ashes, make sure they are out; dousing in water or sand is the best way to do that.
- Check under furniture cushions and in other places people smoke for cigarette butts that may have fallen out of sight.
- Smoking should not be allowed in a home where oxygen is used.
- If you smoke, choose fire-safe cigarettes. They are less likely to cause fires.
- To prevent a deadly cigarette fire, you have to be alert. You won’t be if you are sleepy, have been consuming alcohol, or have taken medication or other drugs. The full report can be found at http://www.usfa.fema.gov/research/other/smoking-mitigation.shtm/.
Line-of-Duty Deaths
June 13. Deputy Assistant Chief Michael J. Day, 49, Providence (RI) Fire Department: cause undetermined at press time.
June 13. Firefighter III William L. Craddock, 37, Dekalb County Fire Rescue Department, Decatur, GA: heart attack.
June 14. Firefighter Ralph Aguilar, 42, New Mexico Division of State Forestry: injuries sustained when he was ejected from the apparatus he was operating when it overturned.
June 16. Ex-captain Michael J. Greene, 43, West Babylon (NY) Fire Department: electrocuted while retrieving fire department equipment at scene of a structure fire that occurred several days earlier.
June 22. Firefighter/Rescue Diver Allan Anderson Jr., 47, Wellington (OH) Fire District: drowned while attempting to rescue two teenagers stranded in their SUV in flood waters.
June 23. Firefighter Robert W. Edwards, 45, Tunica (MS) Fire Department: heart attack.
June 25. Deputy Chief Steven A. Smith, 34, Wea Township Volunteer Fire Department, Lafayette, IN: fell through the first floor while fighting a residential fire.
Source: USFA Firefighters Memorial Database
