Fire/EMS Safety, Health and Survival Week

This week, 19-25 June, is being observed as Fire/EMS Safety, Health and Survival Week. This year’s theme is “Surviving the Fire Ground - Fire Fighter, Fire Officer & Command Preparedness.” Fire/EMS Safety, Health and Survival Week is a collaborative program sponsored by the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and the International Association of Fire Fighters(IAFF); it is coordinated by the IAFC’s Safety, Health and Survival Section and the IAFF’s Division of Occupational Health, Safety and Medicine, in partnership with more than twenty national fire and emergency service organizations.

Fire departments throughout the U.S. are encouraged to suspend all non-emergency activity during Safety Week and to focus entirely on survival training and education until all shifts and personnel have participated.

One of the most challenging calls during fire ground operations is a MAYDAY call, issued when a fire fighter’s personal safety is in imminent danger. Fire fighter fatality data compiled by the United States Fire Administration have shown that fire fighters “becoming trapped and disoriented represent the largest portion of structural fire ground fatalities.” The incidents in which fire fighters have lost their lives, or lived to tell about it, have a consistent theme - inadequate situational awareness put them at risk.

Although firefighters don’t plan to be lost, disoriented, injured, or trapped during a structure fire or emergency incident, fires are unpredictable and volatile, and they will not go according to plans. What a fire fighter knows about a fire before entering a blazing building may radically change within minutes once inside the structure. Smoke, low visibility, lack of oxygen, structural instability, and an unpredictable fire ground can cause even the most seasoned fire fighter to be overwhelmed in an instant.

This year’s Fire/EMS Safety, Health and Survival Week focus is designed to help firefighters prepare for when failure does occur. Without such training fire fighters do not have the practiced skills to rely on if and when they get into trouble.

For additional information related to Fire/EMS Safety, Health and Survival Week, please visit:

IAFC: Fire/EMS Safety, Health and Survival Week

Buildingsonfire.com

FireRescue 1: FIREGROUND: Calling Mayday!

FireRescue 1: FIREGROUND: How to prevent a Mayday

Background information:

IAFC: Safety, Health and Survival Section

IAFF: Health, Safety, and Medicine

IAFC: Safety Week Resources: Firefighter Survival