Protecting Emergency Responders, Volume 2: Community Views of Safety and Health Risks and Personal Protection Needs

摘要

Emergency response is an inherently dangerous occupation. Emergency responders face a wide range of serious hazards in their jobs, which places them at high risk for occupational injury or death. This risk is mitigated by their using various forms of personal protective technologies (PPTs), such as protective garments, respiratory protection, environmental monitoring and communications equipment, and practices and protocols that focus on safety. This report addresses the safety of emergency responders by examining the hazards and personal protection needs that members of the emergency responder community regard as being the most important. The findings reported here are based on in-depth discussions with 190 members of the emergency response community nationwide, including structural firefighters, emergency medical service (EMS) responders, police officers, emergency management officials, technology and services suppliers, researchers, and program managers from 83 organizations around the country. The principal topics addressed in this report include: the primary tasks that emergency responders undertake; situations in which the risk of injury is the greatest and that have the highest priority for improving personal protection; current and emerging technologies that are critical to protecting the health and safety of emergency responders; and drivers of, impediments to, and gaps in technology development.