- Author
-
Fahy, R. F.
- Title
- Firefighter Fatalities in the United States 2005.
- Coporate
- National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, MA
- Keywords
-
fire fighters
|
fire statistics
|
fire fatalities
|
death
|
injuries
|
cardiac effects
|
arson
- Identifiers
- heart attack; sudden cardiac death; on-dury fatalities; 2005 experience; type of duty; cause of fatal injury or illness; nature of fatal injury or illness; age of fire fighters; fire ground deaths; vehicle-related incidents; Public Safety Officers' Educational Assistance Program (PSOEA); comparison of on-duty deaths between career and volunteer municipal fire fighters, 2005; on-duty fire fighter deaths - 1977-2005; fire fighter deaths by type of duty - 2005; fire fighter deaths by cause of injury - 2005; fire fighter deaths by nature of injury - 2005; on-duty fire fighter deaths by age and cause of death - 2005; on-duty death rates per 10,000 career and volunteer fire fighters - 2001-2005; fire ground deaths by fixed property use - 2005; on-dury fire ground deaths per 100,000 structure fires - 2000-2004 (excluding the World Trade Center deaths in 2001); fire fighter deaths - local career vs. local volunteer - 1977-2005; selected fire fighter fatality incidents
- Abstract
- In 2005, a total of 87 on-duty firefighter deaths occurred in the U.S. The 87 on-duty deaths represent the lowest total since 1993, and the third lowest death toll since NFPA began tracking these deaths in 1977. Responding and returning from alarms accounted for the largest shares of firefighter deaths, with 26 deaths. Fire ground operations accounted for 25 deaths. This continues the trend that deaths on the fire ground account for less than one third of the deaths each year. Stress and overexertion, which usually results in heart attacks or other sudden cardiac events, continued to be the leading cause of fatal injury. Of the 47 stress-related deaths in 2005, 40 (46%) were classified as sudden cardiac deaths (usually heart attacks).