NFPA Journal - Summer 2022 - 94

NFPA Research The Reports
REPORT SUMMARY
United States Firefighter
Injuries in 2020
By Richard Campbell and Ben Evarts
E
ach year, NFPA studies firefighter deaths and injuries
to provide national statistics on their frequency,
extent, and characteristics. Information about the
circumstances of firefighter injuries is critical for
helping to plan injury-prevention efforts.
NFPA estimates that 64,875 nonfatal firefighter injuries occurred
in the line of duty in 2020, an increase of 7 percent over the 60,825
injuries reported for 2019. The NFPA survey also found a sharp
increase in the number of exposures to infectious diseases among
firefighters, most likely an outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The latest firefighter injuries report includes injuries incurred
during several types of duty: at the fireground, during training
activities, non-fire emergencies, responding to or returning from
incidents, and performing other duties. The injury estimates are
based on data reported by fire departments responding to the 2020
National Fire Experience Survey.
The number of line-of-duty firefighter fatalities is collected
annually in a separate report, which is available online at nfpa.org/
firefighterfatalities.
KEY
FINDINGS
NFPA.ORG/
FIREFIGHTER
INJURIES
Read the complete
2020 report on
firefighter injuries
in the US.
Of the 64,857 line-ofduty
injuries that occurred
in 2020, an estimated
16,075, or 25% of all firefighter
injuries, resulted in
lost time.
Most firefighter injuries-
65%, or approximately
two-thirds-occurred off
the fireground. These
include training activities,
non-fire emergencies,
responding to or returning
from incidents, or
other unspecified on-duty
activities.
In 2020, 22,450 injuries,
or 35% of all firefighter
injuries, occurred at the
fireground, a 6% decrease
compared to 2019.
94 | NFPA JOURNAL * SUMMER 2022
The major types of fireground
injuries were
strains and sprains (40%
of the injuries); wounds,
cuts, bleeding, and bruises
(13%); smoke or gas inhalation
(10%); and thermal
stress (8%).
Overexertion or strain
was the leading cause of
fireground injuries in 2020,
with 31% of the fireground
injury total. Other major
causes were falls, jumps, or
slips (21%), exposure to fire
products (11%), and contact
with objects (10%).
Between 1981 and 2020, the
number of injuries at non-fire
emergencies increased by
42%, from 9,600 to 13,650.
In 2020, 4,975 firefighter
injuries occurred while
responding to or returning
from an incident. Another
7,550 firefighter injuries
occurred during training
activities, and 16,250 injuries
occurred during other
on-duty activities.
Strains, sprains, and
muscular pain were the
leading type of firefighter
injury in non-fireground
activities in 2020. This
Higher shares of injuries
involving thermal stress,
respiratory distress,
smoke or gas inhalation,
and dislocation or fracture
were sustained while
responding to or returning
from incidents than
the other non-fireground
activities.
NFPA estimates that
there were 20,900
exposures to infectious
diseases such as hepEleven
firefighters were injured in an explosion
and fire at a commercial building in Los Angeles
in May 2020.
injury type accounted for
49% of the non-fireground
injury total, with another
30% of non-fireground
injuries involving thermal
stress. Wounds, cuts,
bleeding, and bruises
accounted for 11% of
non-fireground injuries in
2020.
Strains, sprains, and
muscular pain injuries
accounted for over three
in five (62%) injuries experienced
during training
activities in 2020. Strains,
sprains, and muscular pain
injuries also accounted
for more than half of the
injuries (53%) during nonfire
emergencies, as well
as approximately two in
five injuries that occurred
while responding to or
returning from incidents
(43%) or other on-duty
activities (41%).
atitis, meningitis, HIV,
and COVID-19 in 2020,
more than two and a half
times the 7,675 exposures
reported in 2019.
This increase is almost
certainly influenced by
the COVID-19 pandemic
that swept the country in
2020.
There were an estimated
17,050 exposures to hazardous
conditions such
as asbestos, radioactive
materials, chemicals,
and fumes in 2020. An
increase in reported exposures
in recent years may
be partially explained by
heightened awareness
about cancer and other
chronic illnesses in the
fire service and the importance
of documentation,
thereby leading to higher,
and likely more accurate,
exposure totals.
RICHARD CAMPBELL is senior research analyst in the
Research Division at NFPA. BEN EVARTS is data collection and
research manager at NFPA.
GETTY IMAGES
http://www.nfpa.org/irefighterfatalities http://www.nfpa.org/irefighterfatalities http://www.NFPA.ORG/FIREFIGHTERINJURIES http://www.NFPA.ORG/FIREFIGHTERINJURIES http://www.NFPA.ORG/FIREFIGHTERINJURIES
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