By Brian Ward
What are you doing to ensure that you and your crew go home every shift? As of December 22, 2008, there had been 109 firefighter line-of-duty-deaths (LODDs) in the United States, according to the U.S. Fire Administration’s Web site. Remember, every shift you work, a firefighter somewhere in this nation loses his life. Doesn’t that make you think? For every shift you work, a firefighter dies. In addition, firefighters suffer numerous injuries, some of them disabling, every year. Why does this happen, especially with the availability of the safety training programs and classes with which we can educate ourselves and the resources to spread that knowledge?
Web research resources
Searching the Internet is one of the easiest and quickest ways to obtain knowledge. However, because of the number of Web sites and varying reliability of the information they may present, we must crosscheck all information to verify authenticity. But the amount of credible resources available makes this easy to do. We can get most of our research information from the Internet, on topics such as personal growth, program development, and equipment specification.
However, the best information is not always found in the most obvious places. Throughout my time as an up-and-coming firefighter, I have compiled a list of useful Web sites. There is no way to list them all, but I have broken them down into categories for easy reference. Sites I targeted provide quality material but at little or no cost.
Some of these materials can be used to start career development classes; others are great for station training. If we all read at least 10 to 15 minutes a day on some topic related to the fire service, imagine how much better informed we would be! The fire service has many training requirements that, rightfully so, focus on the basics of firefighting. If we don’t know the basics, we can’t move forward, but we also have to learn to broaden our horizons. Whether we are volunteer, combination, or career members, it’s each individual’s responsibility to be a professional firefighter. If everyone focuses on being a professional and not just a part-time firefighter, we can reduce our LODDs.
For more free training information, visit www.FireServiceSLT.com.
Fire Service Web sites
Building Construction
- American Forest and Paper Products: www.woodaware.info/index.html
- U.S. Forest Service: www.fpl.fs.fed.us/
- Hollow Core Concrete Pty Ltd.: www.hollowcore.com.au/
- Structural Building Components Association: www.sbcindustry.com
Certifications/Schools
- Fire Department Safety Officers Association (FDSOA): www.fdsoa.org
- National Fire Academy (NFA) Degree at a Distance Program: www.usfa.dhs.gov/nfa/higher_ed/index.shtm
Fire Service History and Culture
- UShistory.org: www.ushistory.org/franklin/philadelphia/fire.htm
- Everyone Goes Home: www.everyonegoeshome.com
- Fire Department of New York (Origin of Maltese Cross): www.nyc.gov/html/fdny/html/history/maltese_cross.shtml
Fire Service Law
- Fire, EMS, Safety Newsletter:: www.uc.edu/cas/firescience/bennett/fire:ems:safe.aspx
- U.S. Department of Labor: www.osha.gov/SLTC/firesafety/index.html
Hazardous Materials
- Minnesota Department of Agriculture: www.mda.state.mn.us/chemicals/pesticides/pestmgmt.htm
- CSX Transportation Public Safety and Environment: http://csxhazmat.kor-tx.com/
- Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration: www.phmsa.dot.gov/hazmat/training-outreach
Health
- National Volunteer Fire Council: www.healthy-firefighter.org
- Runner’s World: www.runnersworld.com
- University of Michigan: www.umich.edu/~exphysio/mvs.240/LecturesHandouts.html
- International Association of Fire Fighters: www.iaff.org/hs/Well/index.htm
- CrossFit: www.crossfit.com
Incident Case Studies
- Firefighter Close Calls: www.firefighterclosecalls.com
- National Fallen Firefighters Foundation: www.firehero.org
- Firefighter Near-Miss Reporting System: www.firefighternearmiss.com
- Lessons Learned Information Sharing: www.llis.dhs.gov/index.do
- National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH): www.cdc.gov/niosh/fire/
Instructor Materials
- International Society of Fire Service Instructors: www.isfsi.org/
- Chabot College: www.chabotfire.com/index.html
- Oregon Fire Instructors Association: www.ofia.net
National Incident Management System
- Emergency Management Institute: www.training.fema.gov/IS/viewall.asp
- South Carolina Emergency Management Division: www.scemd.org/Library/NIMS/ics_forms.html
- National Incident Management System (NIMS) Online: www.nimsonline.com
Networking
- Fire Engineering Community: community.fireengineering.com
- TRADE with the National Fire Academy. As a subscriber to TRADE, you can ask a question and it is sent to 18,000 subscribers across the country, a great networking program. TRADE Virtual Trading Post: http://feti.lsu.edu/municipal/NFA/TRADE/
Research
- Fire Engineering Archives: http://www.fireengineering.com/magazine/archives.html
- National Emergency Training Center Learning Resource Center: http://www.lrc.fema.gov/index.html
Simulations/Scenario-Based Training
- Fire Engineering Firefighting Simulations: http://www.pennwellblogs.com/fireengineering/simulations/
- Fully Involved Fire: www.fullyinvolvedfire.com
- Long Beach (CA) Fire Department Training Center: www.lbfdtraining.com/simulations.html
- Emergency Services Interactive Systems: www.firesimulator.com
Sprinklers and Fire Prevention
- United States Sprinkler Fitter Association: http://www.usasprinklerfitters.org/about-us.asp
Standards
- National Institute of Standards and Technology: www.fire.nist.gov
- Factory Mutual Global: http://www.fmglobal.com/
- U.S. Fire Administration: www.usfa.dhs.gov
- National Fire Protection Association: www.nfpa.org
- ISO Mitigation Online: www.isomitigation.com
Strategy and Tactics
- Firetactics.com: www.firetactics.com
- Vincent Dunn: www.vincentdunn.com
- Rico Fire Rescue: www.ricofirerescue.com
- Vent Enter Search: www.vententersearch.com
Tools and Equipment
- Blue Ridge Mountain Rescue Group (Knots): www.brmrg.org/
- Animated Knots by Grog: www.animatedknots.com/
- U.S. Department of Labor (Fire Extinguishers): www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/evacuation/portable.html
Vehicle Extrication
- Fire Graphics Hybrid Vehicles Emergency Response Guides: www.firegraphics.org/erg.htm
- Holmatro Rescue Equipment Training Resources: www.holmatro-usa.com/training/default.htm
- VehicleX: www.vehiclex.com
- National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration: www.nhtsa.dot.gov
Subjects: Line-of-duty-deaths (LODDs), injury prevention, firefighter training Web sites and resources