Winter - 2005
Page 1
What is the True Cost of Firefighter
Injuries?
Fire Safety
Roundtables -- Healthcare Facilities and Nightclubs
Page 2
Water Runoff After Major Fires Studied
Testing Navy Suits
with Mannequins
Page 3
Delivery Densities of Compressed Air Foam
Studied
Page 4
Simulating the Cook County Administration Building Fire
Positive Pressure Ventilation Incorporated into Fire Model
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FRIENDLY VERSION (PDF format)
What is the cost of a firefighter injury on the fire ground? What is the probability of a fire engine accident when responding to an emergency call? These perplexing questions and other related ones are of great interest to NIST researchers as they search for ways to reduce the occurrence and severity of firefighter work-related injuries A new report, prepared by TriData Corporation, The Economic Consequences of Firefighter Injuries and Their Prevention, NIST-GCR-05-874, addresses the cost of these injuries not only to the firefighters themselves, but also to their departments, the insurance industry and society.
The TriData research team conducted the cost-of-injury research by reviewing the existing literature and looking at various models that could be used to
calculate the many parts that make up financial losses from injuries. Other studies were reviewed, as well as injury-related data, and the team then incorporated their original research results, as well as existing research data, into the report.
The estimated cost of addressing firefighter injuries and of efforts to prevent them is $2.8 to $7.8 billion per year. The cost elements that comprised the two studies were based on workers compensation payments and other insured medical expenses, including long-term care, lost productivity, administrative costs of insurance, etc. The Tri-Data team applied a new approach to the analysis and looked at costs that typically have not been factored into firefighter injuries.
Some of the labor costs reviewed were investigating injuries, plus the time required for data collection, report writing, and filing. The study estimated a number of these direct costs including medical payouts, legal fees, and investigations, and these expenses were applied to the total number of injuries.
Cont. on page 2
Injuries can occur at all fire incidents.
The issue of fire safety in healthcare facilities and emerging code issues in nightclubs were addressed at two roundtable conferences hosted by the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC). The project was supported by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)/Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
On April 22, 2004, IAFC invited a cross-section of the healthcare and fire service industry leaders from
throughout the United States to participate in the Healthcare Fire and Life Safety Round Table.
The increase in the number of assisted and non-assisted living facilities for retirement living has identified the need for a model life safety plan to be developed and made available to the fire service and to the healthcare and building management communities.
Cont. on page 3
Cover of the Healthcare Report