The National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) coordinates firefighting efforts among Federal and State agencies. As part of the NWCG’s mandate to ensure current, shared information, a report on Wildland Firefighter Health and Safety issues will be published twice each year by the Missoula Technology & Development Center (MTDC). It will include activities related to the MTDC project on firefighter health and safety, including summaries of research, abstracts of related reports, articles, and field notes. Practical approaches to manage fatigue, environmental stress, and other factors that compromise the health and safety of wildland firefighters will be reported, and upcoming events will be announced.

In this Issue:

• Immune Function
• Escape Route Evacuation
• Human Factors
• Fitness and Injury

 

Background

The NWCG assigned MTDC the task of coordinating the Wildland Firefighter Health and Safety project and serving as the focal point for ongoing and future studies. MTDC has conducted many research and development projects related to the health, safety, and productivity of wildland firefighters. The Wildland Firefighter Health and Safety project will focus on three main areas and goals:

Work/Rest Issues—Development of an objective approach for the determination of work/rest standards, and recommended assignment lengths for crews and overhead.

Energy and Nutrition—Improvement of the energy intake, nutrition, and immune function of wildland firefighters.

Fitness and Work Capacity—Implementation of medical screening and work capacity standards, and improvements in the health, safety and productivity of firefighters.

Subject departs field lab on Storm King Mountain
during a simulated escape route evacuation
(see Wildland Firefighter Load Carriage).

Fires of 2000

As this report goes to press, the 2000 fire season ranks as the worst in 50 years. With thousands of fires and over 6 million acres burned, the season has strained human and physical resources. While help has come form Army, Marine, and National Guard units, and from Canada, Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand, the fires may continue until rain or snow aids suppression efforts.