10 Rescues a Day - Weekly Report 2/28 - FIREFIGHTER RESCUE SURVEY

10 Rescues a Day - Weekly Report 2/28

2/28/2021

Through the morning of 2/28/21, a total of 591 fireground civilian rescues by firefighters have been reported in U.S. news media and department press releases. This is the eighth consecutive week where the average number of rescues by firefighters per day was 10 or more.

165 of these rescues were associated with a completed Firefighter Rescue Survey. The current survival rate for rescues by firefighters displayed in these follow up reports is 72%. When the 72% survival rate is applied to the total number of rescues recorded for 2021, it is estimated that in the U.S. 426 civilian lives have been saved this year through the direct actions of firefighters on the fireground.

Fire department operational interventions cannot influence the conditions prior to arrival in the structure or in the patient. The impact of moving victims from a toxic, hostile atmosphere to one of treatment and care in fresh air is an intervention that can be measured. This should be both highest priority intervention and data collection point for the discipline of operations.