Ask any firefighter what the top priority of firefighting and EMS duties are and they will reply “Life Safety”. Life safety is drilled into a firefighter’s consciousness from the first day of academy to everyday thereafter, unmistakably it is our highest priority. Life safety serves as the basis of our career, and the public expects nothing but the utmost professionalism when our life safety skills are needed, and no doubt 100 times out of 100 firefighters will give their greatest effort in order to make sure any job is done with the public’s expectations in mind. After all, as a public citizen I too expect nothing less.Firefighter Safety Week is a return to basics for all of the safety training one may have received one or ten years ago, as if pushing a giant reset button the #1 priority is brought back into focus, and complacency is ushered out the door. As safety equipment and technology have increased over the years the number of firefighter fatalities has remained nearly constant, sadly many of the deaths are preventable.
In 2007 stress/overexertion was the single largest factor in on-duty firefighter fatalities, 53 cardiac related deaths and 3 strokes, nearly double the next closest category (vehicle accidents). In addition to Line-of-duty deaths, firefighters are nearly twice more likely to get some form of cancer than are non-firefighters.
Prevention and education are the keys. June 11th and 12th Pima Fire Chiefs Association and the Pima Interagency Training Committee hosted a Firefighter Safety Seminar in conjunction with the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Golf Tournament , that addressed breaking the chain of events that precede most firefighter fatalities. Mike Dubron from the Firefighter Cancer Support Network and LACo FD spoke on the importance of cancer screening and what happens when a diagnosis is “cancer”. Mike spoke from firsthand experience detailing his battle with the disease and the importance of having a strong support network. If caught early, most cancer is treatable; however most men do not utilize the medical profession half as much as women therefore many cancers are not diagnosed until later stages. Mike has some great information in addition to an amazing cause: www.firefightercancersupport.org/
The second guest speaker of the afternoon was Sacramento Fire Captain Jeff Helvin. Jeff told of a recent near miss situation where he and three others were trapped above a flashover in a two story single family home. All four firefighters survived the incident, however not without being burned or injured. Jeff spoke candidly about the incident and had the room on the verge of tears with the thoughts and emotions that went through his mind when he was trapped. Incredibly moving presentation that showed how a chain of small errors nearly cost him and three others their lives.
The underlying message: Complacency needs to be overcome in firefighting in order to reduce the number of injuries and deaths each year. We need to be more aware of our health and actions on a daily basis, because the end results have an impact that reaches our families and friends.
