Reports Released

In the last few months there have been many reports released on many issues related to fire fighter safety issues. See the following links for a copy of each report.

A Multiphase Study on Firefighter Safety and Resource Deployment - Many fire departments across the nation are being challenged by budget crises, rising call volume, personnel and equipment shortages, security issues and the overall expectation to do more with less. These and other factors, all too often, have our responding crews encountering increasing line of duty risk of injury and death as they continue to work to reduce civilian injury and property loss. Even with the technological advances of the last decades, we have not yet been able to scientifically quantify our experiences to determine what staffing levels, asset configurations and response time frames are best when responding to various levels of fire or EMS events so that we minimize risk to the firefighters, paramedics and the public. We believe the time has come to change that. Get reports here.

Quantitative Evaluation of Fire and EMS - Mobilization Times - Comprehensive data on fire emergency and EMS call processing and turnout time is largely absent from the published literature. Operational benchmarks for alarm handling time and turnout time specified in the NFPA peer consensus standards 1221 and 1710, respectively, would be greatly enhanced with strong empirical validation. This study presents a clear statistical picture of actual recorded alarm handling times and turnout times for fire and EMS emergencies across a group of large fire departments. Additionally, the study identifies some significant factors that affect variation in alarm handling times and turnout times in those departments. These results provide an objective basis for further development of the relevant codes and standards as well as contributing critical information for fire chiefs and other government decision makers tasked with optimum deployment of emergency response facilities (ERFs) and emergency response units (ERUs). Get report here.

NIST Study on Charleston Furniture Store Fire Calls for National Safety Improvements - NIST’s team of experts traveled to Charleston to gather data within 36 hours of the Sofa Super Store fire. Using these data and other information collected in the following months (such as building design documents, records, plans, video and photographic data, radio transmissions, interviews with emergency responders, and informal discussions with store employees), the NIST study team developed its computer model to simulate and analyze the characteristics of the fire, including fire spread, smoke movement, tenability, and the operation of active and passive fire protection systems. Get report here.

Steven Sawyer