Statistics can tell a story. And that story can be useful when fire departments appeal to municipalities, local governments or risk managers for financial help for staffing, apparatus, facilities and improvements in firefighter health and safety.
The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation gathered statistics that resulted in efforts to reduce line-of-duty deaths. The Firefighter Cancer Support Network’s collected data called attention to increased firefighter cancers. Tracking firefighter suicides by the Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance raised the need to address firefighters’ mental health issues.
The annual Firehouse Run Surveys provide data for fire departments across the U.S. According to Peter Matthews, Firehouse Editor-in-Chief, “Fire departments and firefighters look to Firehouse’s run surveys each year to see how their run volumes, staffing and budgets compare to other departments in the region and of similar size across the country. The data, easily found in one location, allows them to better understand the fire service as a nation and looks beyond their jurisdictional borders."
One area where the fire service lacks data is the status and condition of fire stations across the U.S. and Canada. According to the ISO (Insurance Services Office), there are just over 53,000 fire stations in the U.S. and another 2,000 stations that are not recognized. While ISO certifies fire departments for insurance purposes, the specific age of a fire station, its condition and capability to increase health and safety is unknown across the U.S. and Canada. Collecting such stats on fire stations would be beneficial to career, combination, volunteer and rural fire departments in North America.
Last month, Firehouse introduced the 2020 State of Fire Stations in North America Survey and we need your input. One survey should be completed for each station in the fire department. From basic information about the department, other questions cover the apparatus bays, firefighter health and safety and PPE storage.
Over the past 10 or 20 years, fire department responsibilities and types of calls have increased significantly. While fire calls are down, EMS has exponentially increased. Response to rescues, hazmat and wildfire calls have increased. Gender neutral washroom facilities are required. Volunteer departments need to accommodate sleeping areas for full-time staff.
There has also been an increase in high-risk calls: anthrax, AIDS, Zika, MRSA, H1N1, and now COVID-19. Each of these new incidents requires fire stations to add equipment, protective clothing and procedures. New apparatus doesn’t always fit in an existing station.
The Firehouse 2020 State of Fire Stations in North America survey is conducted by the Center for Governmental Studies, Northern Illinois University. According to NIU’s Assistant Director Mindy Schneiderman, Ph.D., "Surveys are useful in describing the characteristics of a large population, such as fire stations in the U.S. and Canada. No other research method can provide this broad capability."
When the survey is complete, the results will be available to fire departments for comparison to neighboring departments or similar departments across North America.
Craig Carter, project manager/associate partner for BKV Group, explained that many architects, when working with a fire department, frequently are asked questions about other fire stations.
“The only information we currently have about the ‘typical’ fire station is anecdotal,” he said. “Once we get these results from the survey, we’ll have evidence to prove that most new stations, for example, include designated physical conditioning rooms, enhanced HVAC systems and decontamination areas.”
Carter believes the data collected from the survey will be helpful for fire departments across North America. “The ability to benchmark yourself against other departments is a great way to foster continuous improvement industry-wide and will give chiefs the hard data they need to convey their needs to elected officials,” said Carter.
Initial findings will be shared by Carter at the 2020 Station Design Conference, August 10-13, in the Chicagoland area.
Carly Fiorina, former president of Hewlett-Packard Co. said, “The goal is to turn data into information, and information into insight.” The insights from the data gathered by the State of the Fire Stations in North America can be a powerful tool for fire departments to share with authorities on the state of their fire stations.
