FPRF and NIST: “Research Roadmap for Smart Fire Fighting”
In June, the Fire Protection Research Foundation, the research affiliate of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released “Research Roadmap for Smart Fire Fighting,” which establishes the baseline for incorporating existing and emerging technologies and “sensor rich” data into the work of firefighters and other emergency responders.
According to Anthony Hamins, chief of NIST’s Fire Research Division, the document will facilitate focusing resources on “research efforts that will enable timely and effective communication and information delivery to firefighters when they need it.” Making optimal use of communication, computing, sensor, and networking technologies and growing online collections of useful data, he explains, “can greatly improve capabilities-both in preventing and fighting fires.”
“What many people are calling the ‘Internet of Things’ may be the beginnings of a new revolution in technology,” says NIST’s Albert Jones, an operations research analyst. He cited the “growing and ever-improving connectivity between the cyber and physical worlds,” which, he says, “presents tremendous opportunities for reducing the national fire problem.”
NIST provided funding to the Foundation to develop the Roadmap report and to build relationships with the Cyber Physical Systems community. Over the past two years, the Foundation has worked in coordination with NIST and multiple experts to develop the project’s findings.
The report can be downloaded for free at http://1.usa.gov/1f7UR4w
West Nile Virus vaccine enters human clinical trials
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, is sponsoring a clinical trial of the investigational vaccine HydroVax-001, designed to protect against West Nile Virus (WNV) infection. Scientists at the Oregon National Primate Research Center at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland discovered and developed the vaccine. The Phase 1 clinical trial is being held at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, an NIAID Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit.
Most commonly spread through the bite of infected mosquitoes, WNV is typically a seasonal epidemic in the United States that begins in late spring or early summer and continues into the fall. Last year, 2,205 cases of WNV and 97 related deaths were reported in the United States. Most people with WNV disease recover completely, but the elderly and other immunocompromised individuals are at higher risk for long-term side effects or death. From 1999 to 2014, a total of 41,762 cases of WNV disease have been confirmed in the United States; there were 1,765 deaths.
In preclinical studies, the test vaccine was effective at protecting mice against a lethal dose of WNV. The trial will enroll 50 healthy men and women, ages 18 to 50 years. Study participants will be followed for 14 months. Enrollment is expected to be completed by December 2015.
Additional information about the clinical trial is available at <ClinicalTrials.gov> using the identifier NCT02337868 <https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02337868>.
NFPA: 64 LODDs in 2014
Sixty-four firefighters died in the line of duty in the United States in 2014, according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). This is the third year in the past four years that the total has been below 65 deaths. According to Dr. Rita Fahy, the NFPA’s manager of fire databases and systems, “Firefighter death rates have declined overall in recent years, with 2014 the sixth consecutive year that the total number of deaths was below 100.”
Sudden cardiac death continues to claim the greatest number of on-duty deaths annually. In 2014, more than half of the deaths were from sudden cardiac events, the highest number since 2008.
The report also noted the following 2014 statistics:
- The breakdown of the firefighters’ work affiliations included 34 volunteer firefighters, 23 career firefighters, three employees of state land management agencies, two state contractors, one civilian employee of a military fire department, and one member of an industrial fire department.
- The largest share of deaths occurred while firefighters were operating at fires (22 deaths), the second lowest total number of fireground deaths since this study began in 1977.
- Road vehicle crashes claimed seven fatalities (in seven crashes), the second lowest number of vehicle crashes and crash deaths over the past 30 years. None of these deaths involved privately owned vehicles.
NGA: Cybersecurity mission for fusion centers
The National Governors Association (NGA) said in a recent release that states should designate cybersecurity as a mission of fusion centers. These centers were created after 9/11 to serve as primary focal points for state, local, federal, tribal, and territorial partners to receive, analyze, and share threat-related information.
Enhancing the Role of Fusion Centers in Cybersecurity examines actions governors and state policymakers can take to increase the role of fusion centers in promoting cybersecurity and public safety. It is available at http://www.nga.org/files/live/sites/NGA/files/pdf/2015/1507)
CFSI: FY-2016 Homeland Security funding in Congress
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, in early July, approved a draft Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 spending bill for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). According to the Congressional Fire Services Institute (CFSI), the bill funds the DHS at $39.3 billion, $337 million less than the current fiscal year. The full House Appropriations Committee was expected to consider the bill later in July (at press time).
Included in the bill are the Assistance to Firefighters (FIRE) and Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant programs, funded at $340 million each, the same level of funding as in FYs 2014 and 2015. The bill also funds the United States Fire Administration (USFA) at $44 million and the Urban Search and Rescue System (US&R) at $35.18 million-the same funding level as for the previous two years.
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved its version of the FY16 DHS spending bill (S. 1619) in June. The Senate bill contains the same spending levels for FIRE, SAFER, USFA, and US&R as the House committee bill.
LINE-OF-DUTY DEATHS
June 4. Firefighter Thomas D. Miserendino, 71, Beachwood (NJ) Vol. Fire Company #1: heart attack.
June 5. Lieutenant David Knapke, 55, Williamsburg (OH) Township Emergency Services: heart attack suffered on May 30.
June 6. Crew Member Ian Haxton, 31, Student Conservation Association- Veteran Fire Corps, Arlington, VA: unknown; collapsed while participating in Wildland Firefighter Work Capacity Test.
June 9. Firefighter Wille O. Sensenich, 69, North Huntingdon Township (PA) Circleville Volunteer Fire Department Station #8: heart attack.
June 10. Fire Operations Supervisor Terry K. Sonner, 33, Boise (ID) District Bureau of Land Management: unknown; collapsed after physical training.
June 20. Lieutenant Michael P. Miller, 45, Green Bay (WI) Metro Fire Department: still to be determined.
Source: USFA Firefighters Memorial Database
