When arguing for changes in fireground tactics, I often hear people cite the number of Line of Duty Deaths. 'We're killing 100 firefighters a year with this stuff,' the argument goes. But the LODD statistics tell a different story.
In 2016, there were 89 Line of Duty Deaths. Of those 89 fallen firefighters, only 4 died at a structure fire, as a result of collapse, thermal injuries, or smoke inhalation. Only those 4 deaths, of 89, occurred as a result of incidents that could have been avoided by a change in tactics. The other 85 of 89 fatal incidents in 2016 had nothing to with interior vs. transitional attack, the use of vertical ventilation, or the timing of ventilation and search, and most of those incidents did not involve a working structure fire at all.
If you want to keep reading, I'll talk a little about how I came up with those numbers. But if not, just know that I believe that Line of Duty Deaths are tragic, and the fire service should continue making important culture changes in the name of life safety. However, the culture changes that will actually prevent firefighter deaths are related to nutrition, fitness, safe driving practices, and improved training, and have little to do with fireground tactics.
It's true, we are killing 100 firefighters a year. That's a tragedy, and we should do something about it. But changing our tactics will do little to reduce the number of Line of Duty Deaths per year.
**************
I got my numbers from pg. 17 of the FEMA and the National Fallen Firefighter Foundation 2016 LODD report, where they break down Line of Duty Deaths by cause of injury.
https://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/...s/ff_fat16.pdf
43 were caused by stress and overexertion, and resulted in heart attacks and strokes.
19 were caused by vehicle collisions.
8 were caused by objects striking a firefighter. This includes shootings, and a number of wildland firefighters killed by falling objects. One incident that I arguably could have included was a firefighter who died as a result of an explosion at a gas leak call. But because it was not a working fire, and because the firefighter was in the street when he was killed by debris from the explosion (not actually in the house), I didn't include this in my count of incidents that could be attributed to tactical decisions.
5 causes were listed as other, and all were due to medical emergencies.
1 was caused by a suicide while on duty.
The remaining 13 incidents were the result of falls, collapses, getting lost, running out of air, or exposure.
5 were caused by falls. The falls occurred during EMS and law enforcement assists, training exercises, and wildland operations. None of the falls occurred during working house fires, or had anything to do with tactical decision making.
2 were caused by exposure. One occurred in an industrial setting, and resulted from the use of pneumatic tools. One occurred as a result of a medical emergency during a training that did not include live fire.
1 was caused by running out of air. It occurred as a result of an air embolism during a dive operation.
1 was caused by becoming caught or trapped. This firefighter drowned, while assisted civilians in flood conditions.
Only 4 incidents occurred during working fires in structures.
3 were caused by collapse, all as a result of the same incident. During a rowhome fire with a report of trapped occupants, the first floor collapsed while firefighters were advancing a hoseline into the structure.
1 was caused by a firefighter becoming lost or disoriented, while searching a commercial structure during a working fire.
In 2016, there were 89 Line of Duty Deaths. Of those 89 fallen firefighters, only 4 died at a structure fire, as a result of collapse, thermal injuries, or smoke inhalation. Only those 4 deaths, of 89, occurred as a result of incidents that could have been avoided by a change in tactics. The other 85 of 89 fatal incidents in 2016 had nothing to with interior vs. transitional attack, the use of vertical ventilation, or the timing of ventilation and search, and most of those incidents did not involve a working structure fire at all.
If you want to keep reading, I'll talk a little about how I came up with those numbers. But if not, just know that I believe that Line of Duty Deaths are tragic, and the fire service should continue making important culture changes in the name of life safety. However, the culture changes that will actually prevent firefighter deaths are related to nutrition, fitness, safe driving practices, and improved training, and have little to do with fireground tactics.
It's true, we are killing 100 firefighters a year. That's a tragedy, and we should do something about it. But changing our tactics will do little to reduce the number of Line of Duty Deaths per year.
**************
I got my numbers from pg. 17 of the FEMA and the National Fallen Firefighter Foundation 2016 LODD report, where they break down Line of Duty Deaths by cause of injury.
https://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/...s/ff_fat16.pdf
43 were caused by stress and overexertion, and resulted in heart attacks and strokes.
19 were caused by vehicle collisions.
8 were caused by objects striking a firefighter. This includes shootings, and a number of wildland firefighters killed by falling objects. One incident that I arguably could have included was a firefighter who died as a result of an explosion at a gas leak call. But because it was not a working fire, and because the firefighter was in the street when he was killed by debris from the explosion (not actually in the house), I didn't include this in my count of incidents that could be attributed to tactical decisions.
5 causes were listed as other, and all were due to medical emergencies.
1 was caused by a suicide while on duty.
The remaining 13 incidents were the result of falls, collapses, getting lost, running out of air, or exposure.
5 were caused by falls. The falls occurred during EMS and law enforcement assists, training exercises, and wildland operations. None of the falls occurred during working house fires, or had anything to do with tactical decision making.
2 were caused by exposure. One occurred in an industrial setting, and resulted from the use of pneumatic tools. One occurred as a result of a medical emergency during a training that did not include live fire.
1 was caused by running out of air. It occurred as a result of an air embolism during a dive operation.
1 was caused by becoming caught or trapped. This firefighter drowned, while assisted civilians in flood conditions.
Only 4 incidents occurred during working fires in structures.
3 were caused by collapse, all as a result of the same incident. During a rowhome fire with a report of trapped occupants, the first floor collapsed while firefighters were advancing a hoseline into the structure.
1 was caused by a firefighter becoming lost or disoriented, while searching a commercial structure during a working fire.
Comment