Fairplay, CO: North-West Fire Protection District will be participating in the 2007 International Fire and EMS Safety Stand Down, being held the week of June 17-23, 2007. The Stand Down is sponsored by the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), the International Association of Fire Fighters and the Volunteer and Combination Officers Section of the IAFC.

"We are looking forward to participating in the Stand Down," said Chief Mike Roll. "This will be our second year participating and it helps our firefighters keep safety as a primary thought in all our operations. We are fortunate to have not experienced any significant injuries and hopefully these pro-active measures will keep it that way."

The Stand Down, themed "Ready to Respond," will focus on preparing firefighters and EMS personnel for their daily duties by reviewing their training and the proper use of equipment to ensure safe response, mitigation and return from all emergency situations. Failure to remain cautious can cause routine activities to become hazardous, as has been shown in the many fire service and emergency medical service line-of-duty deaths and injuries. In 2006, 105 firefighters died in the line of duty; already this year, 44 have been lost. The purpose of the Safety Stand Down is to reduce these deaths and injuries by calling attention to safety practices and improving them. Stand downs have been used by the military for years to correct issues that have been identified as a problem throughout the ranks.

"Over the last year we have been stressing the importance of personnel safety and situational awareness while on the calls," said Chief Roll. "Now we are working to add the component of preparedness and our ability to respond. This ranges from physical fitness to driving safety to preventative maintenance for our tools and apparatus"

For more information, please contact Chief Mike Roll at North-West Fire Protection District.