keeping it safe robert tutterow

Could the firefighting profession be facing some of the problems facing football?

The idea for this month’s column was the annual National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) line-of-duty death (LODD) report that was released in December 2017 for calendar year 2016. In reviewing the report, I was struck by how we have entered an era when the dangers of firefighting are profoundly broader than they were … or than we thought they were. A lower percentage of firefighters die from on-scene firefighting (structural collapse, asphyxiation, burned) than ever before. In fact, there is a trend of fewer “traditional” LODDs over the past 40 years. However, if one factors in death by cancer and suicide, the number of firefighter deaths is startling.

New Awareness

How does this relate to football? Concussions. More data and science are indicating the long-term impact of blows to the head and repeated concussions. Fewer and fewer young kids are participating in football because of this issue. Parents are reluctant to encourage their kids to play and often discourage them from playing. Will the increasing awareness of cancer and suicide among firefighters have a similar impact on recruiting new members—career and volunteer? Granted, participation in football almost always begins at a much earlier age than participation in firefighting. But, there are similarities.

There has always been honor in serving in the military and in being public safety responders. As a rule, the public appreciates the sacrifices made by such servants. There is a lot of ceremony, and rightly so, in honoring fallen military and emergency responders who pass in the line of duty. Do we offer the same honor for those who lose their life from cancer or suicide? For some reason, it does not seem to resonate the same way.

By the Numbers

The NFPA LODD report showed that 69 firefighters died in the line of duty in 2016. This was the fifth time in the past six years that the number has been less than 70. When the NFPA started keeping LODD records in 1977, there was a 15-year period when the average was around 130 per year. This was followed by a similar approximate 15-year time period when the number was around 100 per year. These two plateau periods beg the question: Are we now in another 15-year plateau period? Only time will tell. Let us all hope it is a shorter plateau followed by another significant drop.

The 2016 NFPA LODD report fully acknowledges there are deaths by suicide. However, the NFPA tracking system does not include cancer, and it only includes suicides that occur while on duty. The NFPA report cites the Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance (FBHA), reporting that 99 firefighters died of suicide in 2016 as well as an additional 36 EMTs and paramedics who died the same year. The report says that one-fifth of the suicides were retired firefighters, EMTs, and/or paramedics. It is safe to assume there are a lot more emergency responder suicides that are not reported or known to the FBHA.

The report fully acknowledges the information from the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) about cancer deaths. According to the IAFF, more than 80 firefighter cancer deaths were reported by its m