Chatper 1: Introduction (1)

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) reports that there were 115 firefighter
¹line-of-duty deaths (LODDs) in fire stations for the 10-year period of 2006 to 2015.

The causes of death were as follows:

*Sudden cardiac deaths — 89.
*Internal traumas — 14.
*Strokes — 10.
*Suicides — 2.

Included in these numbers are the following incidents:

*Two members struck their heads and passed away after suffering medical emergencies (one from a heart attack and one from a seizure).
*Seven died from falls.
*Four were struck by ²apparatus.
*One was trapped under an apparatus.
*One died from an explosion.
*One died from a ³physical altercation with another member.
*One died from septic shock approximately three months after injuring his elbow in a station training session.

(以上原文摘錄自報告P.1)

1. line-of-duty dealth: 指的是執勤中的死亡，line 這個字在英文有前線、第一線的意思(front line)。例如美劇「夢魘殺魔」(Dexter)第4季第3集中，警察A在某次的現場調查時，在受害者家中保險箱找到鈔票，趁別人不注意時私自收了起來，卻被主角B看見，警察A害怕被揭露於是和B起了衝突，他說 “I put my life on the line every day. I give this job everything I’ve got…” (我每天出生入死，為了這份工作付出一切…)。 ↩︎
2. apparatus: 指裝備或設備，這裡是指消防車輛 fire apparatus 造成的相關事故。 ↩︎
3. altercation: 指衝突，physical altercation 意即「肢體衝突」。 ↩︎