STORY TYPE: Homeland Responder Brief #103 - 106

SEGMENT TITLE: The American Fire Service Addresses Line of Duty Deaths and the 16 Initiatives

SCRIPT:
Announcer:
THE WILLINGNESS TO TAKE RISKS FOR OTHERS IS WHAT SETS FIREFIGHTERS A CUT ABOVE THE AVERAGE CITIZEN. BUT ASK YOURSELF THIS, WOULD YOU WANT TO BE THE FIRE CHIEF WHO HAD TO TELL A FIREFIGHTER'S FAMILY THAT THEIR LOVED ONE DIED NEEDLESSLY?

WELL, AS YOU'RE ABOUT TO SEE, THE AMERICAN FIRE SERVICE IS SEARCHING FOR WAYS TO MAKE THAT SCENARIO A RARE EVENT. IN A CULTURE THAT'S SEEN TOO MUCH DEATH, THEY'RE TRYING TO CHOOSE LIFE.

IF YOU HAD TO PICK THE UNLIKELIEST PLACE FOR A REVOLUTION, THIS COULD BE IT. A SOUTHERN BOOMTOWN AND TOURIST MECCA, TAMPA IS HARDLY A HOTBED OF UNREST.

TO UNDERSTAND WHY REVOLUTION IS A FITTING WORD FOR WHAT HAPPENED IN THIS TAMPA HOTEL CONFERENCE ROOM BACK IN MARCH OF 2004, WE FIRST HAVE TO TAKE YOU TO ANOTHER PLACE - EMMITSBURG, MARYLAND.

EVERY YEAR, THOSE WHO WISH TO HONOR OUR FALLEN FIREFIGHTERS MAKE THE PILGRIMAGE HERE, TO THE NATIONAL FALLEN FIREFIGHTERS MEMORIAL.

THEY HONOR THOSE WHO MADE THE SUPREME SACRIFICE.

Paulison:
It's a profound thing to be at the memorial service in Emmitsburg and see those faces coming down the aisle with that flag and flowers. And you have to see the anguish and the tears. It's something that's almost more than you can bear when you're seeing that.

Announcer:
AND THEN THERE'S THE MEMORIAL ITSELF. EACH FALLEN FIREFIGHTER'S NAME IS MEMORIALIZED ON A PLAQUE. WITH MORE THAN 100 FALLEN FIREFIGHTERS ADDED EVERY YEAR, THE RELATIVELY YOUNG MEMORIAL IS ALREADY RUNNING OUT OF SPACE.

Siarnicki:
And it just clicked. You know what? We're getting ready to renovate the memorial, we're going to build an area to add more names, but we shouldn't just be building a space to add names, we should be building a program to prevent those names from every getting on that wall.

Announcer:
SO - IN A RADICAL DEPARTURE FROM THE NORMAL MISSION OF THE FALLEN FIREFIGHTERS FOUNDATION, RON SIARNICKI SENT OUT A MESSAGE INVITING ALL THE KEY PLAYERS TO THIS TAMPA CONFERENCE ROOM. AND SO BEGAN THE REVOLUTION.

Siarnicki:
It was interesting. We weren't sure how many people were going to show. The foundation couldn't cover expenses. We had almost 250 people come in. Every org. was represented.

Paulison:
I think for the first time we were able to get every different fire service agency on the same page as far as firefighter fatalities. Everyone understands that we have a problem. Everyone understands that we have to fix it. So we brought everyone together to hammer these initiatives out.

Announcer:
BEFORE WE GET INTO WHAT HAPPENED IN TAMPA, LET'S TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT WHAT THE FIRE SERVICE IS UP AGAINST. SINCE THE TERRORIST STRIKE OF 9/11 CREATES AN UNUSUAL JUMP IN THE NUMBER OF FIREGROUND FATALIITIES, WE'LL START AFTER 2001. IN 2002, THE USFA REPORTED 100 FIREFIGHTER DEATHS. 2003 SAW 111 FIREFIGHTER FATALITIES. AN UPDATED USFA REPORT SHOWS 117 FIREFIGHTER DEATHS IN 2004. TOTAL ALL THOSE NUMBERS TOGETHER, AND THEY START TO OVERWHELM..

Siarnicki:
When you say 100 a year, I'm not sure that really puts it into perspective. If you just go back to 1981, almost 3,000 firefighters have died in the country.

Morris:
I believe the records will show that the US fire service has the worst firefighter fatality statistics than any industrialized country in the world. Great Britain for example has a very low firefighter fatality rate. Over a 10-year period we killed 961 firefighters. During that same period, they killed 33. They're one fifth the size of this country. Multiply the UK by 5 and you get 165.

Announcer:
THE NUMBERS ARE FRIGHTENING, BUT AS RON SIARNICKI ALLUDED TO EARLIER, IT'S IMPORTANT TO GET THE FULL PERSPECTIVE. TO DO THAT, WE'RE GOING TO ENLIST THE HELP OF THIS MAN - ANYONE WHO SURFS FIRE-RELATED WEB SITES IS BOUND TO RUN ACROSS THE NAME OF CHIEF BILLY GOLDFEDER… A NOTED WRITER AND SPEAKER. GOLDFEDER SAYS HE'S SEEN TOO MUCH LOSS…

Goldfeder:
There was a young woman firefighter, and I say woman because I saw her as my daughter. She had just been on the job, she was riding the tailboard of an apparatus last year, they were backing the rig up, she fell, she wasn’t riding a harness or whatever.

Announcer:
WITH THIS STORY, GOLDFEDER SHARES A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. BUT ON HIS WEB SITE, FIREFIGHTERS CLOSE CALLS DOT COM, AND THROUGH AN E-NEWSLETTER HE CALLS "THE SECRET LIST," GOLDFEDER SHARES STORIES OF LOSS FROM ACROSS THE NATION.

Goldfeder:
When you are run over by an apparatus that backs over you because your dept. may or may not have adequate backing policy, and the driver didn't check the back of the truck before he or she backs up, that's incredible.

Announcer:
REMEMBER, IN THIS CASE, GOLDFEDER IS SHARING JUST ONE PERSONAL STORY. IF YOU GO TO THIS NIOSH WEB SITE, HOWEVER, YOU'LL FIND A LONG LIST OF OTHER FIREFIGHTER FATALITIES WITH A SIMILAR TRAGIC RING… PREVENTABLE DEATHS THAT HAD LITTLE TO DO WITH THE ACTUAL ACT OF SAVING LIVES.

Goldfeder:
How we're getting injured is nothing new, other than obviously the loss of 343 firefighters in NY, which is a whole other issue, but the standard response in fds and EMS, we keep getting injured the same exact way.

Announcer:
IT'S THAT PATTERN OF SENSELESS REPEATED TRAGEDY THAT LED TO THE SUMMIT IN TAMPA.

Siarnicki:
What's unique about that is it's got buy-in from all the organizations. You often hear the fire service is divided. We can't agree on anything. We fight among ourselves on political issues and legislation and stuff.

Announcer:
GROUPS LIKE THE IAFF, THE UNION THAT REPRESENTS FIREFIGHTERS, AND THE IAFC, THE ORGANIZATION WHICH SPEAKS FOR FIRE CHIEFS, HAVE HAD MORE THAN THEIR SHARE OF DISAGREEMENT - BUT NOT THIS TIME.

Siarnicki:
We didn't see that at all. We saw everyone come to the table with one purpose.

Announcer:
THE ONE PURPOSE WAS TO COME UP WITH AN ACTUAL PLAN. AND AFTER TWO DAYS OF MEETING, THEY DID JUST THAT.
THE FINALPLAN FOCUSED ON SIX DIFFERENT AREAS OF CONCERN:
STRUCTURAL FIREFIGHTING,
WILDLAND FIREFIGHTING,
VEHICLE OPERATIONS,
HEALTH AND WELLNESS,
FIRE PREVENTION AND EDUCATION,
AND RESEARCH AND TRAINING.

Morris:
Well the goal is to reduce firefighter fatalities by 10 percent per year. It's going to be a real challenge. But it can be done.

Announcer:
TO ACHIEVE THAT GOAL, THE GROUP WROTE DOWN 16 SEPARATE INITIATIVES. THE FIRST INITIATIVE DEALS WITH CHANGING THE CULTURE OF THE FIRE SERVICE.

Sendlebach:
Well I think there's a reason it's number one.. it's undoubtedly the biggest thing we're up against. When you start to adjust the culture, a lot of the other things, the initiatives, start to fit into place.

Goldfeder:
Culture. Heh Heh. Changing culture is talked about and yet noone has really come up with a solution yet. To change people's culture midstream is the ultimate challenge.

Announcer:
IN A NUTSHELL, THE CULTURE THEY’RE REFERRING TO REVOLVES AROUND HOW WE LIKE TO PICTURE OUR FIREFIGHTERS: TOUGH, FEARLESS RISK TAKERS WHO KNOW NO LIMITS.

Paulison:
They believe that firefighter fatalites is just a natural part of the job. It's not a natural part of the job. A firefighter coming to work should at least be able to expect that he or she is going to come home the next day. And when families send a firefighter to work, they should be able to expect that they'll see the person the next day also.

Announcer:
BEFORE WE GET INTO THE REMAINING INTITATIVES, PERHAPS IT'S TIME TO TAKE A QUICK LOOK AT EXACTLY WHAT FIREFIGHTERS ARE DYING FROM.

Paulison:
Well the number one cause in line of duty deaths is actually heart attacks. Number two is vehicular accidents.

Announcer:
IT'S TRUE. REMEMBER THAT NIOSH WEBSITE WE MENTIONED EARLIER? LOOK AT THE LISTED CAUSES OF DEATH, HEART ATTACK, CARDIAC ARREST, ARTEOSCLEROSIS - HEART DISEASE AGAIN AND AGAIN IN CASE AFTER CASE.

Siarnicki:
50% of fatalities in the fire dept. is related to heart attack or strokes. Far more heart attacks than strokes. The causes are similar. 50% of those people dying from cardiac events have known, preexisting cardiac conditions and shouldn't be out doing this kind of work.

Announcer:
TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEM, ONE OF THE INITIATIVES CALLS FOR NATIONAL MEDICAL AND FITNESS STANDARDS.

Siarnicki:
We're not, as the Nat. FFF saying you can't be a part of the fire service. What we're saying is that if their body's not in shape to fight fires or to do the strenuous activities of firefighter, then we need to find another role for them in the fire service.

Announcer:
SO THAT REDUCES THE TOP CAUSE OF FIREFIGHTER FATALITIES. BUT WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER MAJOR KILLER? YOU HEARD EARLIER THAT VEHICLE ACCIDENTS ARE THE SECOND LEADING KILLER.

Goldfeder:
We had another death just this morning. A firefighter was ejected from the fire truck, putting gear on, responding to a call, no seatbelt, the door latch opened and out he fell on his head. And now he's dead. He's gone. And his family's going to have to live with that loss forever.

Announcer:
ONE OF THE INITIATIVES CENTERS ON RESPONSE POLICIES… INCLUDING THE ADOPTION OF A SPECIAL EMERGENCY VEHICLE OPERATORS LICENSE. GETTING AND MAINTAINING THE LICENSE WOULD REQUIRE STRICT TRAINING AND TESTING REQUIREMENTS, INCLUDING MEDICAL CLEARANCES AND PERIODIC REVIEW OF DRIVING RECORDS. MORE TRAINING ON RESPONSE POLICIES COULD ALSO HELP ENFORCE EXISTING STANDARDS, SUCH AS THE USE OF SEATBELTS DURING A RESPONSE.
TO MAKE AN INITIATIVE LIKE THIS WORK, TRAINING WILL BE CRUCIAL.

Goldfeder:
90 percent of the time it comes down to training, training, training. The failure to train. The public expects us to train, expects us to be prepared.

Announcer:
THIS TRAINING CLASS IS THE WAY IT SHOULD BE: FIREFIGHTERS SHARING KNOWLEDGE THAT COULD KEEP THEM ALIVE.
UNFORTUNATELY, TRAINING CAN BE SPOTTY. SOME DEPARTMENTS DO THIS VERY WELL, OTHERS, BARELY AT ALL. TO EVEN THINGS OUT, ANOTHER ONE OF THE INITIATIVES CALLS FOR NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR TRAINING, QUALIFICATIONS AND CERTIFICATIION.

Goldfeder:
Training, it's easy. Because it covers just about all the others. Training covers phys. Fitness. Training allows AFS to aspire to the highest level based upon the equipment. And technology they have. I mean, training teaches you how to drive slowly, carefully. I mean, training. Solve that and we've solved most of our other problems.

Announcer:
IT'S ONE THING TO CREATE A LIST OF INITIATIVES, THE EXECUTION OF THOSE INITIATIVES IS A DIFFERENT THING ENTIRELY. ALL AGREE THAT THE FIRE SERVICE IS FACING AN UPHILL BATTLE.

END