Injury Prevention

Fire and Emergency Services (EMs) departments have marked variation in injury rates based on national and local policies, training, and traditions.  International partnerships and comparative studies therefore provide ideal mechanisms to identify cost-effective safety and health interventions.  The major goal of this project was to conduct international policy-related research on safety and health programs for fire/EMS. The host institutions included the London Fire Brigade (LFB) in the United Kingdom (UK) and the Paris West suburb division of the Service d’Aide Médicale Urgente/Service Mobile d’Urgence et Reanimation and the Service de Santé et de Secours Médical Haute-Corse du Service Départemental d'Incendie et de Secours in France. The study had to major focuses. The first was to evaluate the frequency and distribution of firefighter injuries and illnesses over the last 10 years in the UK and French partners and assess how specific previously implemented safety and health interventions changed injury and illness patterns and costs. None of the data collected in this evaluation included personal identifiers.The second was for this evaluation to lead to the formation of a roadmap for future EU and US fire/EMS safety and health policy and program development. This project was done within a six-month sabbatical and was sponsored by the Fulbright-Schuman grant program. 

Purpose and Aims: We propose to research the effectiveness of proactive risk management-based training, administrative, and technological interventions to improve vehicle operation and reduce emergency services vehicle crashes (ESVCs) in career, combination, and predominantly volunteer fire departments through completion of the following aims: 1) Evaluate risks and design and implement interventions to reduce ESVCs; 2) Measure program effectiveness and economic return; and 3) Develop and disseminate model guidance materials for vehicle-related program interventions.  Relevance: ESVCs and being struck by vehicles are the second leading cause of U.S. firefighter fatalities, averaging approximately 20 each year.  An average of approximately 16,000 firefighter ESVCs and over 1,100 associated injuries are reported annually. Methods: A proactive risk management framework will be employed to tailor vehicle-related program interventions and test their effectiveness in three fire departments: Chicago (IL), Prince William County (VA) and Stayton (OR).  Interventions will incorporate appropriate use of information from fire apparatus vehicle data recorders (VDRs), and additional interventions will be considered, including but not limited to increasing training, revising protocols for emergency and non-emergency response, and increasing supervisor responsibility for ESVCs.  The effectiveness of the interventions will be assessed using a combination of VDR data and ESVC frequency, process evaluation measures, and economic return on investment.  A Fire Protection Research Foundation advisory panel will review the study interventions, assist in evaluation and dissemination of the study results, inform applicable NFPA standards, and guide development of web-based model templates for training, evaluation and vehicle operation-related standard operating procedures (SOPs).  Anticipated Outcomes: Proactive risk management-based interventions will result in improved driving and reduced ESVCs and related firefighter injuries and fatalities.  

Economic evaluation of the global costs of injury for Newmont Mining, including factors such as age, workers compensation structure, health system, injury, and production. Eric Lutz was a contributor on this project but has since left the University of Arizona.