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The National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health (NIOSH) is conducting
a survey to help evaluate its Fire Fighter
Fatality Investigation and Prevention
Program (FFFIPP). The purpose of the
evaluation is to understand how effective
the program has been and what can be
improved to meet the needs of the fire
service. The evaluation will focus on
the effects of the safety recommendations
and information products which are periodically
distributed by NIOSH to the nation's
30,000 fire departments.
The information for this evaluation
will come from a survey of fire department
officers (the Fire Department Survey).
In addition to this survey, the evaluation
also includes focus groups with fire
fighters; these focus groups are organized
separately from the survey and will
involve individual fire fighters from
across the country. NIOSH has contracted
with RTI International (a non-profit
research organization) to conduct the
evaluation of the FFFIPP.
Fire Department Survey
Beginning in early to mid-February,
the Fire Department Survey is being
mailed to 3,000 fire department chiefs
across the country. Included among these
fire departments will be the 215 fire
departments that have had a previous
firefighter fatality investigation (as
of December 31, 2003) and the nation's
10 largest fire departments. Additional
fire departments will be randomly selected
to be representative the fire service
nationally.
The chiefs of the fire departments selected
to participate in the survey will first
receive a letter from NIOSH that explains
the purpose of the survey and requests
their cooperation. About a week later,
the chiefs will receive a copy of the
questionnaire in the mail along with
a cover letter from NIOSH and a postage-paid
return envelope for returning the completed
questionnaire. As a token of appreciation
for participating in the survey, the
selected fire departments are also receiving
a CD-ROM that contains all FFFIPP Reports
and the NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical
Hazards.
Being a part of this study is voluntary,
but all answers are important to ensure
the accuracy of the evaluation. All
responses to the Fire Department Survey
will be kept confidential and will only
be reported in aggregate form so that
specific answers can not be connected
to any particular fire department. The
survey is estimated to take approximately
25 minutes to finish.
How can I help?
If your department is selected for
the Fire Department Survey, NIOSH encourages
your participation in this study. The
information collected will be valuable
in helping to improve the impact of
the FFFIPP and the information products
that they produce. Ultimately this information
may help to save the lives of firefighters.
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