- ISHN GLOBAL - EHS RESEARCH Firefighters in many fire
departments across the U.S. lack basic health and safety
protections, adding unnecessary risks to an already risky
occupation, according to an assessment released last week by the
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). Inadequate
training, insufficient safety equipment and the lack of basic
fitness and health programs were among the findings of the The
Third Needs Assessment of the U.S. Fire Service, which compared
the current needs of America's fire departments to those
identified in assessments done in 2001 and 2005. The report
looked at staffing, training, certification, wellness/fitness,
PPE, the ability to handle unusually challenging incidents, and
communications and new technologies, among other other things. •
Nearly half (46 percent) of all fire departments that are
responsible for structural firefighting have not formally
trained all their personnel involved in structural firefighting,
down from 55 percent in 2001 and 53 percent in 2005. •