The Milton Fire Department has launched seven new initiatives to prevent firefighter injuries: 1) designating Incident Safety Officers, 2) participating in the "Everyone Goes Home" safety campaign, 3) enhancing Rapid Intervention Team training and equipment, 4) increasing training for high-risk operations, 5) providing safety-specific training opportunities, 6) formally establishing a Firefighter Rehabilitation Program, and 7) reviewing policies to ensure compliance with provincial guidelines. These initiatives aim to continuously improve health and safety and protect firefighters from preventable injuries.

1. The Corporation of the
TOWN OF MILTON
Report to: Chair & Members of the Community Services Standing Committee
From: Larry Brassard, CMMIII, C.F.E.I., Fire Chief
Date: February 5, 2007
Report No. FIRE-004-07
Subject: Firefighter Injury Prevention
RECOMMENDATION: THAT Report FIRE-004-07 be received for information.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Firefighting is a high risk occupation that requires firefighters be physically and mentally
prepared for the exertion and extreme working conditions that may be encountered at
any given incident. The provision of personal protective clothing (PPC); the quality and
nature of ongoing training programs and the implementation of policies and
standardized procedures play an important role in preventing unnecessary injuries. Still,
thousands of firefighters are injured across Canada and the United States each year.
The Milton Fire Department has launched a number of new initiatives aimed at
protecting its firefighters and integrating safety into its core values and organizational
business strategy. This report outlines seven specific initiatives that support the concept
of continuous improvement in the area of health and safety as a means to protect our
firefighters from preventable injuries.
REPORT
Background
Last year, seven Milton firefighters were injured during the course of firefighting and
related activities. Fortunately, all of these injuries were minor in nature and none
resulted in a “lost time” event.
Traditionally, firefighting has been considered one of North America’s most dangerous
occupations. Though Canadian statistics are difficult to find, the United States fire
service experiences approximately 105 firefighter deaths and thousands of injuries
every year. Heart attacks are the leading cause of firefighter deaths in the U.S.,
followed by motor vehicle accidents (includes being struck by another vehicle while

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working at the scene of an incident), asphyxiation (being trapped in a fire/collapse) and
“other” causes. The table illustrated below lists the number and percentages of deaths
amongst career and volunteer firefighter by causation in the United States 1 .
Last week, two senior firefighters from Winnipeg were killed in a “flashover” while
fighting a fire in a residence there. In Ontario, our Line of Duty Death (LODD) and injury
experience is thankfully very limited. Since the year 2000, three Ontario firefighters have
been killed in the line of Duty. Captain Dennis Redman of the St. Thomas Fire
Department died in January 2001, when he fell from the third floor of a senior’s home
during firefighting operations. In April of that same year, Captain Pat Carey of the
Toronto Fire Department experienced chest pains while battling an apartment fire on the
10th floor of a building in downtown Toronto. He was rushed to hospital but died of a
1
Source – Centre For Disease Control, “Fatalities Among Volunteer and Career Firefighters – United States, 1994-2004”, MMWR
April 28,2006/55(16);453-455

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heart attack. And, in May of 2002, Firefighter Bill Wilkins of the Barrie Fire Department
was killed at a residential fire when the floor suddenly collapsed, trapping him in the
basement of the home.
Whilst some might suggest that injuries are simply an occupational hazard for
firefighters and such injuries “come with the territory”, the administration of the
department firmly supports the corporate philosophy of developing comprehensive
injury prevention strategies to protect our workers.
Firefighter fitness is an important element of an overall wellness program and in this
regard, candidate screening is viewed as an opportunity to ensure that those entering
service with the fire department possess the necessary levels of strength, stamina,
dexterity and physical fitness to ensure that they are suitable candidates. To this end,
candidates undergo a physical agility evaluation followed up by a thorough medical
screening process that includes a spirometry (a measurement of respiratory system
capacity) and other medical diagnostic measures. The medical screening is conducted
by the designated fire department physician. The department encourages firefighters to
maintain their fitness levels throughout their careers however, there is no mandatory
requirement for ongoing fitness or medical screening in Milton or any other Ontario
community of which staff is aware. Fitness equipment is available to all staff at the
Station 2 facility in Campbellville, however Stations 1 and 3 lack the necessary floor
space and equipment to permit fitness related activities beyond a rudimentary level.
The fire department, like all Town departments, maintains a Joint Health & Safety
Committee (JHSC) that reviews each and every injury incident as a matter of routine.
The committee examines the circumstances of each incident and makes
recommendations for changes in procedures, enhancements to protective clothing and
or facility/equipment improvements where the circumstances warrant.
In addition to conducting reviews of all in-house injuries, the department administration
frequently reviews reports of firefighter injuries and deaths from other jurisdictions
throughout North America in an attempt to identify opportunities to prevent similar
situations from developing here. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) are two primary sources
of information on such matters. Additionally, Canadian and U.S. fire service related
publications and trade journals have proven to be useful sources of relevant information
on the subject matter of firefighter safety.
The personal protective clothing (PPC) issued to all firefighters meets the relevant
safety standards as required by the Occupational Health and Safety Act and a “safety
mindset” is built into every training session from the moment a recruit firefighter takes
their first classroom session to the point that they retire. In addition to safety specific

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training such as W.H.M.I.S. and the Occupational Health & Safety Act, safety is
emphasized throughout all training activities and especially so where training deals with
specific high risk activities such as confined space rescue, high angle rope rescue,
hazardous materials response and highway operations. Existing departmental Standard
Operating Policies (SOP’s) and Standard Operating Guidelines (SOG’s) also emphasize
safety throughout. There are currently some 97 departmental policies and guidelines in
place touching such matters as administration and fire prevention practices, training,
routine operations and emergency operations.
Driver training receives intensive focus throughout a firefighter’s career in Milton with
stringent testing processes that follows ongoing training that includes one-on-one
graduated instruction for all vehicle types used by the department and full size computer
“simulations” similar to those employed in the airline industry for selected vehicles. A
comprehensive review of the department’s program was recently undertaken by Ministry
of Transportation auditors with very positive results.
Discussion
Over the course of the last two years, the Milton Fire Department has launched seven
new initiatives aimed at increasing the level of safety for our staff operating at
emergency incidents in our community. These initiatives include a) the establishment of
dedicated “Incident Safety Officers”; b) participation in the “Everyone Goes Home”
safety campaign; c) the provision of enhanced training and equipment specific to “Rapid
Intervention Team” operations; d) the provision of increased training in selected high
risk fireground operations; e) the implementation of safety specific training opportunities,
f) the formal establishment of a Firefighter Rehabilitation Program (Rehab), and g) a
review of departmental policies and guidelines to ensure compliance with Provincial
guidelines. Each of these initiatives is further detailed on the following pages.
Incident Safety Officers
In 2006, three designated “Incident Safety Officers” (ISO’s) were recruited and selected
from the part-time ranks and trained specifically to function as incident “monitors”. Their
primary tasking is to attend certain types of incidents that have proven to be more
hazardous and to function as part of the departments “Incident Management System” as
a command team member. In addition to the development of the necessary supporting
Standard Operating Guideline, the department brought in outside subject mater experts
to deliver job-specific training. This training was offered to every fire department line
officer so that everyone involved in the supervision of operational staff could be aware
of the elements of the new function and so that a non-designated ISO could fill this role
in the absence of one of the designated members. The designated ISO’s are also
involved in an on-going self study program that will lead to a nationally recognized

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accreditation/certification process. The ISO program is supported by a comprehensive
Standard Operating Guideline.
Everyone Goes Home
In 2004, fire service leaders from throughout North America met in the first ever
“Firefighter Life Safety Summit” in an attempt to address escalating injury and LODD
statistics that were occurring. As a direct result of this summit, the “Everyone Goes
Home” safety campaign was initiated in 2005 throughout North America. The program
seeks to focus attention on safety through a variety of initiatives including what is
becoming the annual “Stand Down for Safety”. This week long initiative focuses on
specific issues that vary from year to year based on current incident trends in the fire
service. The Milton Fire Department participated in the “Stand Down for Safety” in 2005
and 2006 and was featured in the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs annual report for
it’s efforts in promoting driver safety during the 2006 campaign. The “Everyone Goes
Home” theme now dominates virtually all of the department’s safety initiatives and
serves as the rallying cry amongst departmental members for all safety related
endeavours.
Rapid Intervention Teams
In recent years, fire departments across the continent became aware of the need to
have dedicated “firefighter rescue teams” in place at major events to act on a moments
notice when firefighters themselves become trapped, lost or otherwise incapacitated.
Numerous incidents of firefighters becoming lost or trapped and subsequently
succumbing to the effects of the collapse or exposure to smoke were the impetus to the
establishment of “Rapid Intervention Teams” (RIT’s) throughout many departments.
Milton now trains every firefighter in this discipline and routinely deploys personnel to
act as a RIT during any “working” fire situation. Owing to the reputation of the training
efforts being undertaken here, staff from the Milton Fire Department have been invited
to form a part of the training design team for the development of a Provincial wide
initiative being coordinated at the Ontario Fire College.
High Risk Operations
A growing community has resulted in the introduction of new challenges for the Milton
Fire Department. As the notion of “intensification” makes its presence felt in Southern
Ontario communities, the challenge associated with fighting fires in high buildings is
presenting itself here and undoubtedly will present itself on a more frequent basis in the
future. A review of existing operational protocols identified the need to improve the fire
department’s response procedures, training and equipment needs for multi-storey
buildings and so the department has formed an operational review committee to review
our responses to these types of buildings. While the committee is still actively

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developing and revising response protocols, the department has taken the initiative to
invite other subject matter experts to our community to conduct training and peer
reviews respecting high-rise building operations.
Elevator rescues have become common place and so the introduction of specific
procedures to deal with these incidents has recently been completed. The formalization
of equipment inventories and “lock-out/tag-out” procedures and kits stands as an
example of the evolving nature of firefighting procedures to meet the challenge of new
building types. Standard Operating Guidelines are in the process of being drafted or
revised as appropriate to support this element of departmental operations.
Safety Specific Training Opportunities
The introduction of the ISO’s has provided the opportunity to offer safety specific
training opportunities to all our firefighters in the form of quarterly single issue focussed
training programs. Dubbed “Safety Shorts”, firefighters will now have the opportunity to
attend short (3 to 4 hour) training sessions on Saturday mornings that focus on
particular safety Issues. The January 2007 session focussed attention on the hazards
associated with new residential construction techniques and more particularly the
collapse hazards associated with lightweight truss roofs.
Firefighter Rehab Program
Though a basic form of firefighter REHAB has existed for some time in Milton, the 2006
addition of a REHAB unit staffed by four retired firefighters on a truly volunteer basis
has allowed the program to expand well beyond its original capacity. The department
now has the means to provide “active” cooling strategies for firefighters during hot
weather incidents as well as heated rest facilities for prolonged incidents during cold
weather operations. The strategy of providing fluid replenishment, nourishment, medical
monitoring and mandated rest periods for firefighters involved in long, drawn out
incidents will result in fewer injuries and serve to ensure that the health and welfare of
our staff addressed. A complete revision of the department’s Standard Operating
Guideline has been completed.
Policy/Guideline Review
Most organizations with complex operating procedures reduce these procedures to
written policies and guidelines to address safety, efficiency and common operating
expectations. Fire departments are para-military organizations requiring standardized
methods of conducting operations and so it follows that most fire departments are
heavily dependent upon written procedures to guide staff members engaged in
delivering these services to the community. While the department has numerous
policies and guidelines in place, a comprehensive review of the existing documents

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revealed a need for additional policies and in some cases that revisions be made to
existing policies. In particular, in 2005 a “gap analysis” was instituted to determine the
level of compliance that the departments existing policies had with provincially
mandated guidelines. While very few mandated guidelines exist with respect to how fire
departments should conduct their operations, the Ministry of Labour has established a
working committee known as the “Section 21 Committee” whose purpose is to research,
draft and publish “guidelines” for the Ontario Fire Service. The analysis conducted
revealed that there a number of issues to be addressed and so staff has been working
diligently to address this concern. Moreover, beyond the need to address the Section 21
Committee guidelines, new equipment issues and the constantly changing environ of
the fire service means that policy/guideline development and revisions constitute an
ongoing need and the department continues to address this issue with the resources
available.
Relationship to the Strategic Plan
The activities of the fire department support the Destiny Milton 2 goal of providing “A
responsible, cost effective and accountable local government” by embracing the
concept of ‘service excellence’ and the Destiny Milton 2 goal of creating “A safe,
liveable and healthy community” through ongoing investment in staff development which
results in more effective emergency response.
Financial Impact
There is no financial impact associated with the recommendation contained within this
report.
Respectfully submitted,
Larry Brassard, CMMIII, C.F.E.I.
Fire Chief
If you have any questions on the content of this report: Larry Brassard, 905-878-9251, ext 2807
CAO Approval: _________________________