Fire-Related Firefighter Injuries in 2004
Fire-Related Firefighter Injuries in 2004Every occupation brings degrees of safety risk, and one of the higher risk jobs is firefighting. At the fire scene or on the way to a fire, vehicle crash, or explosion, or even while training, firefighters face a relatively high chance of being injured and possibly killed. Each year, tens of thousands of firefighters are injured while fighting fires, rescuing people, responding to emergency medical incidents, responding to hazardous materials incidents, or training for their job. While the majority of injuries are minor, a significant number are debilitating and career-ending. Such injuries exact a great toll on the fabric of the fire service.
From the need to adjust staffing levels and rotations to accommodate injuries, to the focus of the fire service on injury prevention, injuries and their prevention are a primary concern. In addition, the fire service has done much to improve firefighter safety. Firefighter health and safety initiatives, incident command structure, training, and protective gear are but a few areas where time, energy, and resources have been well-spent. Nonetheless, firefighting is, by its very nature, a hazardous profession. Injuries can and do occur.
This report presents the details of firefighter injuries sustained at or responding to a fire incident, focusing on 2004 data. These injuries may be the result of operations at the fire scene or responding to or returning from an incident. Confirmation of (or opposition to) previous reported trends of firefighter injuries are noted where appropriate. Most of the statistics presented are from analyses of the 2004 National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Version 5.0 data.
Last Reviewed: February 28, 2008
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