Study of Firefighter Line of Duty Injuries and Near Misses

Overview

The scope of this project includes a series of four in-depth examinations with fire departments that experience near misses or line of duty injury incidents. Near miss incidents are selected for examination so that each investigation has the potential to yield several important insights. During analysis of the incidents, UL’s Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI) team applies the findings from previous DHS AFG funded research, utilizes computational modeling tools, and performs experimental demonstrations to better understand factors surrounding each incident and develop recommendations and training materials to prevent similar future incidents. 

By analyzing the factors that contribute to incidents with knowledge of fire dynamics and the research results from past studies, FSRI can provide recommendations on changes to codes, standards, and firefighter tactics and develop training materials and curricula to prevent similar injuries. Training materials include interactive online courses and videos that explain the incidents, the reasons the incidents occurred, and recommended changes to be applied to strategy and tactics in the future.

This project is supported through the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program as a Fire Prevention and Safety Grant: (EMW-2018-FP-00476)

Context 

Firefighter line of duty injuries and near miss incidents provide a unique opportunity to interact with and collect information from the scene and the personnel involved within a short time after the incident occurs. Studying these incidents with the advantage of primary accounts of actions and observations enables the most accurate representation of events and facilitates an objective determination of the factors that contributed to the outcome. 

“Typically, these kinds of events are examined when a fatality occurs but with this project, we’re trying to make sure the firefighter experiences are taken into account, providing valuable context to the findings so that they can be channeled into actionable insights for other fire service personnel to prevent future close calls and potential fatalities.”

– Steve Kerber, Vice President and Executive Director, FSRI

Objectives

The goal of this project is to enhance the safety and situational awareness of the fire service by developing interactive training materials based on applying fire dynamics research results to significant near miss or line of duty injury incidents.