By John K. O'Donnell
District Fire Chief

For many years, the fire service in America has experienced about 100 line of duty deaths per year. Several thousand fire service personnel of all ranks are injured annually. Many of these injuries are severe and lead to time lost from work and/or permanent disability. Modern apparatus and state of the art personal protective equipment have been introduced to the fire service and still the death and injury statistics remain at unacceptable high levels. The goal of preventing these deaths and injuries is reemphasized, year after year. Yet, the numbers change little and firefighters still respond to the call.

Are we only giving lip service to the concept of safety on the fireground? Or, is safety a true priority at every incident? Even though a Safety Officer may be assigned at an incident, no one is more responsible for his/her own safety than the individual. The discipline of wearing personal protective equipment properly, activating PASS devices, donning SCBA, wearing gloves, and protecting one's eyes are all the responsibility of the individual. Fighting fire is a very dynamic business and must be met with an acute awareness of one's environment. Simply acknowledging that hazards are everywhere on the fire ground is not enough. Never let your guard down. Always expect the unexpected. Learn to recognize your personal limitations and those of the entire crew.

Safety is an attitude that must be developed early in a firefighter's career. As time goes by, members of the fire service should increase their positive stance towards safety. Veteran members must set a good example for new members. Rookie firefighters are naturally unaware of many fireground hazards and must be guided closely by more experienced members. Firefighters of all ranks, regardless of the extent of their experience, should always weigh the consequences of all their actions. The progressive firefighter recognizes when he/she is about to perform an unsafe act and stops before it is too late.

Firefighters are expected to be Jacks of all trades. Not only do we fight fires, but we provide emergency medical services, mitigate hazardous material incidents and perform rescues of all types, just to mention a few of the services we provide to the community. We must constantly practice our skill so that we my be as effective as possible, at that unknown incident, when the alarm sounds. It has been said, "Practice does not make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect." Safety should be considered, mentioned and practiced, perfectly at every training session. Progressive fire service leaders must always stress safety and discourage unsafe acts.

We must all take a few minutes to ponder the mistake we have made in the past and have gotten away with. Were they simple acts of inattention or gross violations of safety standards? Did we learn from our mistakes? Why did they happen? We should share our experiences with our fellow firefighters so that they may learn from our mistakes. Remember that safety in the fire service is attainable and we all bear equal responsibility.