NFPA: Firefighter injuries down in 2014

Quincy, MA – Firefighter injuries in 2014 decreased almost 4 percent from the previous year, according to a report from the National Fire Protection Association.

NFPA noted the progress as part of its annual report on firefighter injuries in the United States. The number of injuries in 2014 – 63,350 – marked a 3.8 percent drop from 2013. The agency recorded an additional 7,700 documented exposures to infectious diseases, along with 18,500 exposures to hazardous conditions. Despite the decrease, injuries remained a common threat for firefighters: NFPA estimated one firefighter injury took place every eight minutes, on average.

NFPA analyzed firefighter injuries by type of duty during 2014. The duties included:

• Fireground operations: 43 percent
• Non-fire emergency incidents: 23 percent
• Other on-duty activities: 17 percent
• Training: 11 percent
• Responding to or returning from incidents: 6 percent

For fireground operations, the most common types of injury were strains, sprains and other muscular pain (52.6 percent). The next most common types of injury were wounds, cuts, bleeding or bruising (13.6 percent), followed by smoke or gas inhalation (6.4 percent).