Press Releases

Rep. Roscoe Bartlett Announces a $986,008 Grant to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation Located in Emmitsburg, MD. Funding Will Prevent Deaths and Injuries in the Line of Duty

Washington, Jun 7, 2007 -

Congressman Roscoe Bartlett (R-6-MD) today announced that the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation in Emmitsburg, Maryland was awarded a federal grant of $986,008 for three initiatives to reduce line of duty deaths and injuries of firefighters and other first responders.

The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation award will be used for three project categories: Education, Outreach and the Seatbelt Project. Congressman Bartlett said, “I applaud these important projects because they use federal money to reduce the biggest proportion of deaths and injuries in the line of duty. This is the very least that we as individuals and as a government can do to support the selfless call to duty by these brave men and women who dedicate their lives to protect others.”

The Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives Program will reduce line of duty deaths and injuries. These education initiatives are additions to the Everyone Goes Home Program. They have been designed to provide fire departments with educational resources to change behaviors found to cause preventable firefighter line-of-duty deaths. This is a solutions-based approach to the real problem of why preventable firefighter injuries and deaths continue to occur in unacceptable numbers, and with an immeasurable cost to our families, fire departments, and communities.

The second project will focus on outreach to expand awareness and adoption and develop advocacy of the Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives Program by the nation’s professional and volunteer fire companies.

The third project is a study to prevent deaths and injuries through greater seatbelt use. Vehicle collisions result in the deaths of more than 25 firefighters annually. Firefighters who don't wear seatbelts ignore established policies. However, the bulkiness of turnout gear, coupled with seat size and the physical size of firefighters, can make it impossible for up to 25% of first responders to fasten their seatbelts. This study will determine realistic "fit criteria" for both seats and seatbelt systems. A 3D scientific body scanning and traditional measurement for fire apparatus design will generate data that will guide apparatus manufacturers in the design of cabs and seatbelt systems that all first responders will be able to use.

The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation’s web site is http://www.firehero.org/. Additional information is available at FEMA’s web site for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program: http://www.firegrantsupport.com/ and the U.S. Fire Administration’s web site: http://www.usfa.fema.gov/fatalities/.