Today, U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter (CO-07) introduced the Firefighter Fatality Reduction Act of 2008 requiring the Department of Homeland Security to conduct a survey of our nation’s fire departments to national consensus standards, and provide recommendations to DHS and Congress as to how to enhance compliance.
The National Fire Protection Association is a consortium of fire industry experts that establishes voluntary national consensus standards for the protection of firefighters. Such standards address appropriate staffing levels, personal protective equipment, training, and others.
“Safer firefighters create safer communities. This bill builds upon the exemplary work our nation’s firefighters perform by promoting the strongest safety practices. The federal government needs this legislation because it does not have a diagnostic study showing what may prevent our fire departments and first responders from being their best. We need to understand what problems face our firefighters from meeting these best practices and come up with ideas to help them achieve it,” stated Rep. Perlmutter.
Perlmutter continued, “The loss of any firefighter in the line of duty is a tragedy. Even more tragic is a firefighter death that could have been prevented. Every year our nation loses roughly 100 firefighters in the line of duty, and federal investigators found many of them preventable if departments followed national consensus standards. These standards provide the framework for every fire department to be as efficient and safe as possible. My bill will help fire departments meet these standards.”
“Congressman Perlmutter has long been a champion of fire fighters in Colorado and across the nation,” said International Association of Fire Fighters General President Harold Schaitberger. “The Firefighter Fatality Reduction Act reflects his commitment to protecting the health and safety of every fire fighter, and will provide fire departments with new tools to safeguard emergency responders and the citizens they protect.”
This bipartisan legislation has 17 original cosponsors.
