Texas Fire Chief - Fall/Winter 2007 - (Page 30)

‘Courage to be Safe’ Program TRAINING COURSE AVAILABLE TO FIRE-SERVICE AGENCIES By Danny Kistner Aims to Save Lives H istorically, the U.S. fire service has suffered the tragic loss of more than a hundred firefighters per year. As many as 100,000 firefighters are injured annually; some injuries are catastrophic and career-ending. Though difficult to track, illnesses related to firefighting and exposure to chemicals and communicable diseases shorten the length and quality of many firefighters’ lives. Clearly, many of these deaths, injuries and exposures are preventable. Others are the result of disastrous circumstances brought on by the nature of the business. The ramifications of such statistics are considerable in terms of human suffering and financial loss. The fire service is standing up to say, “Enough is enough!” Nationally, Texas has the dubious distinction of having the fourthmost line-of-duty deaths since 1983. Consequently, Texas firefighters joined together to bring innovative approaches to the Texas fire service in an effort to change the culture of acceptable losses or safety indifference to a more safety-oriented mindset. These approaches include establishing critical partnerships, bringing novel training courses to Texas and striving to add a nationally recognized safety course to mandatory firefighter certification curricula. This effort is driven nationally by the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) and Everyone Goes Home. The NFFF was founded in 1992 to honor fallen firefighters and to help survivors cope. In March 2004, the first of several Life Safety Summits was held to identify commonalities related to line-of-duty deaths. These summits resulted in the promulgation of 16 “firefighter life-safety initiatives.” These initiatives are a blueprint for reducing line-of-duty deaths. More aggressively, the NFFF launched an initiative to reduce line-of-duty deaths by 25 percent by 2009 and 50 percent by 2014. Everyone goes home! The 16 initiatives include Initiative No. 9: “Thoroughly investigate all firefighter fatalities, injuries and near misses.” The Texas State Fire Marshal’s Office has investigated firefighter deaths by statutory authorization since September 2001, utilizing the expertise of Texas fire-service associations, firerelated state agencies and local fire departments. In order to educate all firefighters on the 16 initiatives and how to best implement them, the Everyone Goes Home LifeSafety Initiatives Project team solicited assistance from the fire service and created a team of LifeSafety advocates. Advocates are organized using FEMA regions as a template, and Texas falls under Region VI. In addition, Texas has six LifeSafety advocates. Texas’ lead advocate is Capt. Rob Franklin of the Lancaster Fire Department. State Fire Marshal Paul Maldonado, Capt. Willie Mora of the San Antonio Fire Department, Capt. Rodney Smith of the Arlington Fire Department, Battalion Chief John Davis of the El Paso Fire Department and Chief Dennis Gifford of Lumberton Fire and Rescue Services provide valuable expertise and experience to the program. The NFFF and project team members, along with assistance from Deputy Chief Billy Goldfeder of the LovelandSymmes, Ohio, Fire Department, Battalion Chief John Salka of the New York Fire Department and Pennsylvania Fire Commissioner Ed Mann, created a novel program utilizing the 16 LifeSafety initiatives. The “Courage to be Safe” (CTBS) program teaches firefighters to look at safety from different contexts and gives them the tools necessary to promote safe practices. TEXAS FIRE CHIEF Fall/Winter 2007 30

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Texas Fire Chief - Fall/Winter 2007

Contents Executive Director’s Report Fire Chief of the Year What is an Emergency Service District (ESD)? Tax-Exempt Financing 101 The Benefits of Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (VII) Southwest Fire Rescue 2008 Preview Membership Application ‘Courage to be Safe’ Program Aims to Save Lives Red Truck, Green Building Index to Advertisers

Texas Fire Chief - Fall/Winter 2007

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