NFPA Journal - Fall 2023 - 75

20 internal trauma deaths, six deaths by
crushing, five deaths due to unspecified
traumatic injuries, and two deaths due
to gunshot injuries or projectile wounds.
Eleven firefighters died as a result of
unspecified medical causes. Four of these
deaths occurred during training activities,
four during activities at the station,
one while performing suppression support,
and one while driving a department
apparatus. Information was not available
on the final unspecified medical death.
Cardiac deaths
A total of 36 firefighters died as a result
of sudden cardiac deaths in 2022. Of this
total, 20 deaths occurred while firefighters
were on duty and 16 deaths occurred
within 24 hours of duty. Career firefighters
accounted for 14 of the sudden
cardiac deaths, and volunteer firefighters
accounted for 22 of the deaths.
While the 20 on-duty deaths are
evenly divided between career and volunteer
firefighters, volunteer firefighters
accounted for 12 of the 16 cardiac deaths
that occurred within 24 hours of duty.
The total of 36 sudden cardiac deaths
is higher than the 2021 total of 31 sudden
cardiac deaths. However, this increase is
inflated by the inclusion of cardiac deaths
within 24 hours, which were not included
in the 2021 study. If the newly included
cardiac deaths are subtracted from the
2022 figure, the on-duty cardiac deaths
show a 35 percent decrease over the
number of cardiac deaths in 2021.
Sudden cardiac death nevertheless
remains the leading cause of on-duty
firefighter fatalities in the U.S. and has
accounted for the largest share of firefighter
deaths in almost every year of this
report. The large share of volunteer firefighters
among the cardiac deaths within
24 hours is an indication of a need for
special attention to fitness and medical
monitoring of the nation's volunteer firefighter
population.
There is a clear age gradient in cardiac
deaths, with firefighters aged 55 or
older accounting for half of the cardiac
deaths. Firefighters between the ages of
45 and 54 accounted for 35 percent of
the cardiac deaths and those less than 45
years of age accounted for the remaining
15 percent of deaths.
Ages of firefighters
The firefighters who suffered fatal injuries
in 2022 ranged in age from 19 to 85.
Firefighters aged 46 to 50 experienced the
highest number of fatal injuries with 11
deaths. This reflects in part the ability of
many career firefighters to retire between
50 and 57 years of age. Sixteen of the 17
firefighters who were 61 years or older
were volunteer firefighters. The number
of deaths per age group generally declines
with each subsequent age group. Seven
of the firefighters who were 25 years or
younger were volunteers, three were
career firefighters, and one was a wildland
contract firefighter.
Multiple-fatality incidents
There were six fatality incidents in 2022
that claimed the lives of more than one
firefighter. This represents an increase
over the two multiple-fatality incidents
recorded in 2021 and is the highest
number of multiple-fatality incidents
since 2009, which also recorded six of
these incidents.
Four of the incidents involved vehicles,
each resulting in two fatalities. The two
remaining incidents involved structure
fires, one in which three firefighters were
killed in a building collapse and the other
in which two firefighters died after sending
a mayday from the second floor of a house.
Nonmunicipal firefighters
Seven nonmunicipal firefighters suffered
fatal injuries in 2022. Six of these
were contractors to state or federal
land-management agencies, and one was
a full-time wildland firefighter. Three of
the firefighters were killed when they
were struck by falling trees while performing
duties at wildfires. An additional
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NFPA Journal - Fall 2023

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