NFPA Journal - September/October 2017 - 76

First Responder by Ken Willette

DISPATCHES
FROM THE
EMERGENCY
RESPONDER
COMMUNITY

Training Safe
HOW WE CAN ELIMINATE INJURIES AND DEATHS IN
FIREFIGHTER TRAINING EXERCISES

he training ground

is a great teacher, and I learned valuable
should be a safe place for
lessons from each of these incidents.
firefighters, but in recent
But those lessons came at the cost of my
years that has increasingly
own health and safety. Ideally, we should
not been the case. The
be able to teach these lessons with zero
margin for error can be small, and somedeaths and injuries, and there are a
times little oversights or a momentary
couple of important things we can do to
lack of awareness can cause big problems.
get closer to achieving that.
Consider a recent incident that
First, never underestimate the danoccurred in Colorado, where a veteran
gers posed by fire service training. Just
career firefighter was severely injured
because it's a non-emergency activity
while playing the role of the victim
doesn't mean you can't die or suffer a
during a confined-space training exerlife-changing injury. In the confined space
Never underestimate
cise. After being secured to a harness,
incident I described above, the firefighter
the dangers posed by
the firefighter was lowered into a fivehad limited knowledge about the harness
foot-wide concrete shaft. At some point
he wore, which was cited as a contributfire service training.
the harness shifted, causing the two
ing factor in the event. Review each step
Just because it's
chest straps to press against his throat,
of the training evolution and each piece
a non-emergency
which restricted blood flow through his
of equipment to ensure there are no quesactivity doesn't mean
carotid artery and caused in him to lose
tions, and do not hesitate to call off the
you can't die or suffer
consciousness. Although he received
training or refocus it if participants lack
a life-changing injury.
immediate emergency medical treatment
the required knowledge and skills.
and transport, the firefighter suffered
Second, learn from the experiences
damage to the parts of his inner ear and
of others. The National Institute for
brain that control balance and eye moveOccupational Safety and Health has
ment, resulting in dizziness and impaired
investigated and published reports on
vison that may prevent him from ever returning to work.
many training deaths, and NFPA has also published a 10-year
Unfortunately, this was not an isolated incident. In 2015, nine study on firefighter deaths during training. These reports find
firefighters died and more than 7,000 were injured during training that many of the same factors that are killing and injuring
sessions. In 2016, 10 firefighters died during training, a staggering firefighters on the fireground are also to blame for incidents
14 percent of the 69 total line-of-duty deaths reported by NFPA that on the training ground. These include heat stress and overexyear. This isn't a structure fire or wildfire-the training ground is ertion; sudden cardiac events; thermal burns; and sprains and
supposed to be a controlled environment where the only life to be strains. Consider these factors when planning any training and
saved is that of the trainee. So how does this happen?
implement strategies to mitigate their impact. Lastly, refer to
When faced with such questions, I often find insight by look- the NFPA standards on training, health, and safety. NFPA 1500,
ing back at my own fire service career. I recall times when an Fire Department Occupational Safety and Health Program, and
injury during training was truly an unavoidable accident, like NFPA 1403, Live Fire Training Evolutions, are must reads.
when I lost my footing descending an aerial turntable and fell
Training is essential to increase the skills and knowledge of
and broke my wrist. There were also several near misses that our firefighters and fire officers, but it should never come at
were definitely avoidable, like in 1975 when I wore a face respi- the cost of their health, safety, or life.
rator instead of a SCBA during a smoky fire exercise-I nearly
blacked out and had a severe headache for hours. Experience KEN WILLETTE is first responder segment director at NFPA.

76 | NFPA JOURNAL * S E P T E M B E R / O C T O B E R 2 0 1 7

MICHAEL HOEWELER

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - September/October 2017