Welcome to the International Association of Fire Chiefs' Safety, Health, and Survival Section's website. The Board of Directors and I welcome your participation in one of our greatest and most critical challenges in the fire service, making sure that as many as possible of the members of the fire service return home from protecting their comrades, friends, neighbors, and members of their assigned communities alive and injury free.

And while there are some definite changes in our attitudes related to firefighter safety and survival in recent years, we have to keep going forward!

As firefighters, officers and chiefs, we know that the risks and dangers of our profession will never allow for zero injuries and deaths among those who serve. However, we abhor the loss of life and injuries caused by failure to correct practices that should be discontinued or mistakes that shouldn't be repeated. In other words, while all firefighters, career or volunteer, are heroes by nature of the job we do, only a small percentage of those of us who lose lives in the line of duty, lose those lives heroically. It has been proven and well documented that the balance of these deaths are genuinely preventable!

In addition to our strong and aggressive focus on these concerns, we are representing you daily by working closely with other fire service organizations, federal agencies, elected officials and safety groups to work on research and development of protective clothing and equipment, cancer studies, wellness fitness programs, and numerous related programs designed to aid in our mission. We cannot do this alone, but collectively we believe we can reach the "tipping point" where needless death and injuries to our brothers and sisters will not be accepted as part of the sacrifice to our profession.

Please join us if you are not a Section member and if you are, please be ACTIVE. Please also consider sending us information so you can CONTRIBUTE to the website....your help is needed!

On behalf of the entire IAFC SHS Board of Directors,
Deputy Chief Billy Goldfeder, E.F.O.
Chair, IAFC Safety, Health and Survival Section

The IAFC Safety, Health and Survival Section was established to provide a specific component within the IAFC to concentrate on policies and issues relating to the health and safety of firefighters. The IAFC has always considered health and safety to be one of the most important areas of concern for all fire chiefs and has initiated or participated in a long list of programs related to health and safety. The establishment of this new section is a reflection of the importance that IAFC attaches to the responsibility of protecting our most valuable resource - our personnel.

For more than 30 years the Health and Safety Committee has been charged with studying health and safety issues and recommending appropriate policies to the IAFC Board of Directors. The Committee has played an important role in a long list of projects, including the development and implementation of NFPA Standard 1500 and the Joint Wellness-Fitness program that was developed in cooperation with the IAFF. The Committee has developed numerous educational programs for Fire-Rescue International and other events, studied issues and made policy recommendations to the IAFC Board of Directors. The Committee has also published a series of documents to guide fire chiefs in various situations, including recommended policies and procedures, as well as the IAFC Guide on Conducting Line-of-Duty Death Investigations.

With the establishment of the Safety, Health and Survival Section, there is a new and much greater opportunity for IAFC members to become involved in this important mission. Through an elected executive board, the membership will be empowered to guide and manage the operations of the new section to address issues on a timelier basis and provide more training and educational opportunities.