NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 74
One Maine firefighter was killed and four were injured in
a propane gas explosion last September. The blast also
left 31 people homeless when nearby mobile homes were
destroyed. GETTY IMAGES
Based on data reported by fire
departments responding to the 2019
national fire experience survey, we
estimate that 60,825 firefighter injuries
occurred in the line of duty in 2019.
This is an increase of four percent over
2018, but nevertheless represents the
third-lowest injury total since NFPA
began analyzing this data in 1981. Over
the past 20 years or so, the number of
reported firefighter injuries has been
considerably lower than it was in the
1980s and 1990s, due in part to a redefinition of injuries that places exposures
to hazardous conditions and infectious
diseases in their own categories. Previously, some of these exposures might
have been included in the total injuries
under other categories.
NFPA estimates that there were 7,675
exposures to infectious diseases, such
as hepatitis, meningitis, and HIV, in
2019. We also estimate that there were
24,525 exposures to hazardous conditions, such as asbestos, radioactive
materials, chemicals, and fumes, last
year.
An estimated 17,575 injuries, or
29 percent of all firefighter injuries,
resulted in lost time.
Methods used for this study
Every year. NFPA surveys a sample of
fire departments in the U.S. to make
national projections of the fire problem. The sample is stratified by the size
of the community protected by the fire
department and includes all U.S. fire
departments that protect communities
with a population larger than 5,000.
The 8,672 fire departments in the eight
highest strata protect a population of
280 million people, or 85 percent of the
U.S. population as of July 2019. The rest
of the sample includes 15,478 randomly
selected departments that protect
populations under 5,000, for a total
sample size of 24,150, or 83 percent of
all fire departments in the U.S. known
to NFPA.
The survey uses the ratio estimation method, with stratification by
community size. For each firefighter
injury statistic, a sample injury rate is
computed for each stratum. This rate
consists of the total for that particular
statistic from all departments reporting it, divided by the total population
protected by the departments reporting
that statistic. Note that this means
the departments used to calculate
each statistic could be different and
could reflect differences in unreported
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Firefighter Injury NOV DEC 2020 DCS FINAL 10.29.30 74
10/29/20 6:12 PM
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - November/December 2020
Contents
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - Cover1
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - Cover2
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 1
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 2
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 3
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - Contents
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 5
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 6
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 7
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 8
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 9
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 10
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 11
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 12
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 13
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 14
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 15
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 16
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 17
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 18
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 19
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 20
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 21
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 22
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 23
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 24
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 25
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 26
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 27
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 28
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 29
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 30
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 31
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 32
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 33
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 34
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 35
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 36
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 37
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 38
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 39
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 40
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 41
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 42
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 43
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 44
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 45
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 46
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 47
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 48
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 49
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 50
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 51
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NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 53
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NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 56
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NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 58
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NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 60
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 61
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NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 63
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 64
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 65
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 66
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 67
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NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 69
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 70
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NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 72
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 73
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 74
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 75
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 76
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 77
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 78
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 79
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 80
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - Cover3
NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - Cover4
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