Second National Fire Service Research Agenda Symposium
The Second National Fire Service Research Agenda Symposium was recently convened and held at the National Emergency Training Center in Emmitsburg, Maryland that brought together some of the leading national fire researchers and a cross section of a whoÂ’s who in fire service leadership to complete an intensive two days of interaction and engagement to formulate and develop the National Fire Service Research Agenda for the next three to five years.
In 2005, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, with sponsorship by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and supported by the US Fire Administration, hosted the first forum to develop the National Fire Service Research Agenda. In the ensuing years that formidable work has anchored and provided direction for research and other inquiry throughout the fire protection world, and remains in use today.
2005 PDF Report HERE: Â National Fire Service Research Agenda Symposium
Background
On June 1, 2 and 3, 2005, The National Fire Service Research Agenda Symposium was conducted at the National Emergency Training Center in Emmitsburg, Maryland. The Symposium was conduct by the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) and funded by a grant from the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) through the Center for Fire Research. This work was performed under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology. The United States Fire Administration provided the facilities to host the symposium and was directly involved in the planning and all other aspects of the symposium. The purpose of the symposium was to produce a document that will identify and prioritize the areas where research efforts should be directed to support improvements in firefighter life safety. The emphasis on efforts to address firefighter safety and health concerns coincides with the mission of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, as well as the goal of the United States Fire Administration to reduce line-of-duty deaths by 25% within five years and 50% within ten years.
The report and document published in 2005 was intended to be used as a guide for both research organizations and sponsoring agencies to support the mission of reducing firefighter fatalities.
The overall scope of the symposium included firefighter health and wellness; structural firefighting; wildland firefighting; firefighter training; emergency vehicle design and operations; and reduction of fire risk occurrences.
The symposium attendees represented several segments of the research community, including fire protection, building construction, occupational medicine and behavioral science; fire service organizations, individual fire departments and allied professionals.
2011 Symposium
The Focus of the 2011 Symposium was facilitated and formulative around seven domain areas that consisted of; Â
- Community Risk Reduction
- Health and Wellness Â
- Tools and Equipment
- Emergency Service Delivery
- Technology and Science
- Data Collection
- Wildland firefighting
The results of the 2011 forum will be subsequently promulgated, developed and published later this year for use throughout the profession and will likely frame fire protection professional research for the next several years. The NFFF did an exceptional and commendable job of planning and facilitating this mission crucial program that continues the mission, goals and objectives of the Foundation and its initiatives.
