TEXAS FIREFIGHTER KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY-CRASH
The Secret List www.FireFighterCloseCalls.com
A Texas Volunteer Firefighter died in the Line of Duty yesterday at a wildland fire after he ran a stop sign and was struck by a pickup truck. The pickup, also operating at the scene, was operated by a Texas Game Warden. Firefighter Anthony Quinten Meyers, 38, was working the Jasper County fire when the ATV he was driving was struck by the game warden’s vehicle, and FF Meyers was killed. Our sincere condolences.
THERE REALLY HAS NOT BEEN….
a SCIENTIFIC AND RELIABLE system to track FIREFIGHTER INJURIES.
UNTIL NOW…..USFA/DHS & Drexel University’s Firefighter Injury Research & Safety Trends (FIRST) project announces the launch of its new program site:
The Firefighter Injury Research & Safety Trends (FIRST) Project is the initial step towards developing a comprehensive national system for capturing firefighter injuries. If the Fire Service and safety researchers have comprehensive, consistent, and accurate information about who is being injured, how they are being injured, and what types of injuries occur, then these injuries can be prevented. FIRST is strongly influenced by the needs and guidance of both the Fire Service and the safety research community. An advisory board of subject matter experts, which represents both groups, has been appointed and their input is incorporated into all aspects of the project.
With representatives from the IAFF, IAFC, NIOSH and others, FIRST is an important step towards filling the information gap regarding firefighter non-fatal injuries. The City of Philadelphia, PA and the state of Florida are pilot sites, where FIRST will standardize information already being gathered by various systems (e.g., hospitals and workers’ compensation) and unify them into one data set. This single data set will be evaluated to determine its degree of completeness and accuracy in reporting firefighter injuries at both the state and local levels.
“Current firefighter injury data are not scientifically generalizable, reliable, or reproducible, and therefore cannot serve as a basis for devising new safety policies, training or evaluating safety interventions,” said Dr. Jennifer Taylor, Principal Investigator of the grant. “This work will help us to advance injury prevention and occupational health for firefighters nationwide.”
The primary purpose of the website is to engage two key audiences: members of the fire service, and occupational health and safety researchers. The website provides a channel for users to communicate with the project team. For example, users are encouraged to provide input on questions such as “What injury data would you want that are not currently available?”
With the focus on the fact that if they can understand the injury causes, they can focus on those which in turn, will help reduce similar events that often also cause line of duty deaths.
FIRST
is a project of the Drexel University School of Public Health, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health. The project is funded by the DHS, USFA – Fire Prevention and Safety Grants. For more information, please contact Leah Roman, Project Manager ([email protected] or 215-762-8623)CHECK THE NEW SITE OUT HERE: http://publichealth.drexel.edu/first
Take Care-BE CAREFUL,
BillyG
The Secret List 8-29-11 / 1600 Hours
