The National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) coordinates firefighting 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 is published twice each year by the Missoula Technology & Development Center (MTDC). It includes 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 are reported, and upcoming events are announced.
In this Issue:
- Heat Stress
- Hydration
- Uniforms
- Drugs
This report, the third in a series, reviews activities related to the Missoula Technology and Development Center (MTDC) project on firefighter health and safety. The Wildland Firefighter Health and Safety Project focuses on three main areas:
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.
The 2000 fire season ranks as one of the worst in the past 50 years. With thousands of fires and over 7 million acres burned, the season strained human and physical resources. Army, Marine, and National Guard units, as well as personnel from Canada, Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand assisted in firefighting. According to a team that studied the effects of the long fire season on firefighter fatigue and stress, firefighters and overhead teams coped well with the demands of the prolonged season.
"Generally, we found fatigue to be present, but accompanied by good levels of awareness and action aimed at minimizing the effects of fatigue on performance and safety. The firefighters, crews, and fire management teams were obviously working very hard and demonstrated that safety was recognized as being the first priority within all assignments."
A new 14-day fire assignment guideline probably contributed to the health and safety of fire crews and overhead staff. Medical personnel noted the usual number of upper respiratory symptoms, injuries, and problems with the heat. Preliminary analysis did not indicate that problems were greater than usual. Firefighters, and overhead, medical, and safety staff took many steps to minimize the risks of illness, injury, and heat stress.
