Over the past 10-years, significant research has been conducted on firefighting operations, tactics, and service delivery. Studies on how we do business when the bell rings and we roll out of the fire station have been authored and published by NIST, UL FSRI, and the ATF. The results of these studies have driven significant changes in the fire service.

But until 2021, the fire service has been missing out on a huge data set that will be the next significant change in how we do business. NFIRS and other data collection programs focus purely on the negative, lost lives, property loss, firefighter deaths, etc. While we know that we have been saving civilian lives in residential fires all across the nation, Brian Brush is on a mission to prove it through academic research.

Welcome to the 2021 Fireground Civilian Rescue Research Project. Hold onto your seat, because the initial results are already astonishing. County Fire Tactics (CF Tactics, CFT) stands with and backs this initiative by Chief Brush. The final results are going to be HUGE, providing evidence to what we already know, that it’s worth the risk. Firefighter Rescue Survey is the first of its kind, focusing purely on saving lives, our primary mission focus.

Initial results of the 2021 Fireground Civilian Rescue Research Project

• 83% of rescued victims were located by a search initiated prior to fire control with a 63% survival rate.
• Survival rate for victims found by searches initiated post fire control is 39%.
• For victims located within 8 minutes of arrival, survivability is over 65% as compared to 34% when located after 8 minutes.
• Victims discovered behind closed doors had an 84% survival rate.

Head over to FirefighterRescueSurvey.com, look at the data, and see how you can participate in this study. By reporting your life-saving events to Chief Brush through this site, we are going to drive the next big change.

Click on the documents below and the slide above to view the initial findings. Download in full size and review with your crew at the firehouse kitchen table.

FIRE GROUND RESCUE REPORTING PROCEDURE document from Firefighter Rescue Survey.