Firefighter Research Papers

Matthew E. Barnes was a firefighter who could be called many things including a hero, a friend, a husband, a father and even an angel. The story begins like many 9/11 stories do, with the planes being hijacked, he was one of the men working that day in the New York City Fire Department that would go into the World Trade Center, but would never come out. The 37-year old resident of Monroe, New York was a father to three boys and the husband to Ms. Susan Barnes; he would spend all his available time with his family, somehow slipping out of chores and such just to go fishing with his boys. Two years before the 9/11 he had saved two twins, Isabella and Jacob Kalodner from a fire in their mother, Linda Kalodner’s apartment, by climbing up a 100-foot aerial ladder to the 10th story to save the 6 week old twins.

Fire service personnel, regardless of rank have a duty to protect life and property from fire and other hazards. Other duties include carrying out risk assessments, enforcing fire legislation and educating the community. The fire fighters duties include attending emergency incidents, dealing with fires, flooding, chemical spillages, terrorist incidents and checking water hydrants. All members will need to be disciplined correctly to carry out every aspect of being a fire fighter.

A firefighter is not just called to fires while that is there name many are trained in emergency medical services (EMS). Three fourths of the calls a firefighter runs on are medical emergencies including car wrecks. Other dispatches include; Tornados, hurricanes, earthquakes, terrorist attacks, or any other life threatening occurrences . Many times firefighters work right alongside law enforcement officers.

With that being said, society has raised its standards on what it thinks that a fire service member’s behavior should look like, and if we don’t meet those standards, we can be

Firemen, while intimidating to the general public, are widely accepted and respected. This means that they serve as an embodiment of the public as a whole. In their hands fire is used to

We are the most technically advanced nation in the free world but yet we have not been able to reduce the number of firefighter fatalities over the years. Its one of the great mysteries of the world today. Our gear is better than what they wore thirty years ago, its better than what they wore ten years ago and we still lose an average of one hundred firefighters every year. I know that not all are dying in structure fires but just one is one too many.

According the agency of the Department of Homeland Security states that motor vehicles crashes are the leading cause of death for an on-line duty fireman. Other significant causes of death are: caught/trapped (10%), fall (5%), collapse (3%), and other (7%). Intentions of firefighters are to make the community safe as possible, but we the people need to think twice before we do anything else when dealing with fire. The other things that it 's a national problem for firefighters is not wearing their seat belts when driving out to an emergency. They are so focused on saving our lives when first it 's supposed to be the opposite, their safety is first, but firemen put their lives at risk.

Firefighters are considered as one of the leading occupational fatality rates in the United States since firefighting activities contribute to the death of 100 lives every year. For on-duty firefighters, the main cause of death or fatalities is coronary heart disease in addition to other illnesses and injuries originating while they are conducting the duties of the fire department. Coronary heart disease accounts for approximately 45 percent of the on-duty deaths among firefighters. The risk of coronary heart disease in firefighting activities is usually associated with the fact that firefighters are generally exposed to smoke, psychological stressors, and physical exertion (Kales et. al., 2003).

Firefighter equipment is constructed of some of the most high tech material that has been created in order to keep the firefighter as safe as possible. Constantly new items are made that are proven to be better than the last. Their equipment protects them from a lot. They are equipped with oxygen to breathe when in a smoky building; they have extremely large knee pads to crawl on the ground with because smoke rises so that is where the visibility is the best; they have coats and pants to protect them from the heat and also to help prevent them from getting cut on any sharp materials they may encounter; they have steel toed boots so if anything drops they won’t get hurt; and they have helmets to protect their heads. However, even though it seems like everything is perfect some equipment can use some tweaking.

Much like all events and natural phenomena that pose a threat to civilization, humans have learned to cope with and prevent the loss of human life and destruction of property in devastating blazes that can break out seemingly at random. Fighting fires was not always the science it is today, but due to the use of new technologies and the fundamental understanding of what fire is, how it spreads, how it can kill, and how it is stopped, our protocol when dealing with fires has increased our success rate and continues to grow with applications of engineering, chemistry, and meteorology.

Inability to dissipate the heat is detrimental to the fire-fighter’s health and can result in heat-related illnesses, including heat stroke and may contribute towards sudden cardiac events.

A big topic in the duties of firefighting is why there are more men than women firefighting. Numerous people would think that a woman can’t do the entire cautionary details that it takes to become one. Here is what a woman by the name of Charlotte Whitton has to say about these rumors, “Whatever woman do they must do twice as well as men to be half as good, luckily this is not difficult” (Winters). One explanation to this outbreak is there are many laws protecting women, children, age, minorities, and religious beliefs that many firefighters break everyday that they are on the job. Many women have to endure a workplace that is well suited for male- dominated firehouses unlike that of the 1940’s than of the 21st century. One of the only setbacks for women to worry about when trying to become a firefighter is the physical ability test. Why you might ask, well most women aren’t as strong in the upper body as men usually are, that is not to say that women could weight lift to increase her chances of succeeding. Part of the time that female are at a fire station they get sexually harassed by the male firemen. There have been cases of men hiding video cameras in small place to video tape these ladies and show it to the whole fire house, but in these

Firefighters control and put out fires, and respond to emergency situations where life, property, or the environment is at risk. Firefighters have to go through some schooling. They also have a lot of daily duties, wages, Promotions, and additional training. This job seems fun to me because I will be helping people in my community.

Firefighter injuries and deaths have a significant impact on organizations, families, and the community. The price is paid with the lives of the firefighters, their families, and the dollars and resources of the taxpayers. The actual cost is difficult to determine since there are many variables, however the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) produced a report in 2005 attempting to put a cost to firefighter deaths and injuries. Data for this 2005 study was not comprehensive and many of the sources were unqualified, however the estimates are still considered credible by the authors. The estimates were based on: costs associated with overtime, investigations, physical fitness programs, lost time from work, prevention related

In 2011, the United States Fire Administration (USFA) reported that 83 firefighters forfeited their lives while on the job. 87 line-of-duty-deaths (LODD) occurred in 2010, 115 in 2005, and 81 in 1993. Throughout the history of the United States’ Fire Service, firefighters have been dying in the line of duty at a disturbingly dependable rate of approximately 100 each year. Although technological innovations and a cultural shift towards safety have had a significant impact in curbing firefighter LODD’s over the years, the total number of fatalities per year has rarely deviated. This may seem contradictory, until one understands that as the total population residing within the United States has risen, so has the population of those employed as firefighters. Considering this, one may conclude that total LODD’s should increase analogously with the population of firefighters. Thankfully, advances in education, engineering, equipment, and enforcement have reduced the total number of fatalities, thereby evincing the erroneous nature of this supposition.