The National Development Model for the U.S. fire and emergency services (Figure 1) outlines where an associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s degree plays a role in helping prepare an individual for expanded responsibilities and roles. But where and how can a doctoral degree play a role in our industry?
In this article, we’ll review how some of the University of Illinois Fire Service Institute (IFSI) research scientists—including myself—are putting their doctoral degrees to work. These researchers come from a wide array of backgrounds, weaving together their expertise and interests with the ultimate goal of improving firefighter health and safety. Before we delve into the role of the researchers’ degrees in specific studies, let’s first review some background for a better understanding of how the research evolved and what it takes to conduct fire service research.
University evolution
In 1867, the Illinois Industrial University (now the University of Illinois, or UI) was created to make higher education available to the working people of Illinois. As the state’s land grant university, the primary function of the school was to educate the Illinois workforce by teaching agriculture, engineering and classical studies. In 1922, the Illinois state fire marshal called for the creation of a firefighter training program in the state, and in response, the Illinois Fire College was established in 1925 at the University of Illinois. This program is offered each year in June and is the oldest continuous annual fire school in North America. The original program brought together firefighters and fire officers from across the state with researchers and scholars from architecture and engineering to share programs on fire prevention, control and extinguishment. The current Illinois Fire College remains focused on a balance of basic and advanced training, and incorporates research into fire training courses.
The modern-day IFSI—the statutory state fire academy for Illinois—provides training, education, information and research to firefighters and others connected to the state’s broad emergency response and preparedness mission. The University was founded at the physical crossroads of Chicago, Indianapolis and St. Louis, and the IFSI’s current mission is at the crossroads of firefighting tactics, strategy and fire-based practical research.
Today, IFSI researchers are connected to the fireground as strongly as they are connected to the research laboratory. In many cases, the fireground IS the laboratory where tactics are explored, behaviors are studied, performance is measured, and risks are quantified.
What it takes
A researcher with a doctor of philosophy (PhD) leads the research and ensures that it’s conducted in a scientifically sound, moral and ethical manner. Part of the process of earning a PhD involves a researcher leading a study using a particular method to generate new knowledge within the field. This new knowledge, usually represented by the person’s dissertation, is heavily scrutinized by at least three faculty members in the same field.
In addition to this rigorous requirement, some researchers complete post-doctoral studies in specific fields to add depth to their understanding. In the research setting, this is the equivalent to a command officer with broad experience and insights.
It typically takes 5 or more years of full-time study beyond a master’s degree to complete a doctoral degree, and that time all depends on how well a student navigates the classroom learning, testing and research components of the degree process.
Working alongside the PhD researchers are people who are pursuing higher education degrees. For example, at IFSI, there are students who are working on bachelor’s degrees aiding in data-collection and study logistics, people with master’s degrees who can work with greater autonomy and latitude in study implementation, and technicians who have experience and skill in operating a particular type of equipment or machine to help collect and analyze information gathered during the study. The staff with a master’s degree (2–4 years of additional study) are similar to the role of a fire department captain, and the staff with a bachelor’s degree (roughly 4 years/120 hours to complete a degree) aligns with the narrower responsibilities of a company-level officer. Technicians are specialized and usually hold an associate’s degree (60 hours of study/2 years).
Research focus
Founded in 2004, the IFSI Research Center started with a focus on homeland security issues but more recently focuses on practical research that can impact three distinct but overlapping areas of research: environment, equipment and individual (Figure 2).
Environment-focused projects include a study of carcinogenic particulates found in the smoke produced by modern-day combustibles, conducted with support from Underwriters Laboratories (UL) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Steve Kerber, director of the UL Firefighter Safety Research Institute, has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in fire protection engineering from the University of Maryland, and is currently working on his doctorate in risk management and safety engineering at Lund University in Sweden. Dan Madryzkowski, who has master’s and doctoral degrees in fire protection engineering, has been deeply involved in this work as well.
The 2015 study looked at the impacts on three different fireground assignments; the 2016 study considered the impact on live-fire instructors who have longer exposures to training smoke; and the 2017 study looked at how decontaminating and washing gear impacted the particulates that the smoke deposited on the gear (firehouse.com/12378440). Other projects have looked at the impacts of high levels of noise, stress, and fatigue on firefighters and how these can contribute to injury.
Equipment-focused research includes a study of facepiece failures, which led to the innovation to use a cell-phone flashlight to inspect SCBA failures (https://youtu.be/eJVTfLfuFHc). The study is overseen by IFSI’s Director of Research Gavin Horn—who has a PhD in mechanical engineering with post-doctoral study in fire protection engineering, and serves as an engineer for the Savoy, IL, Fire Department. Horn is supported in day-to-day collection of data by Richard Kesler, who holds a master’s degree in bioengineering, assisted by staff with bachelor’s degrees in exercise science and animal science, again all with a fire service background. Other studies in this area looked at the impact of SCBA design on fatigue, balance, gait, and movement safety and studies that looked at how heat and temperature changes impact the strength of rope and knots.
For individual-focused research, Horn works with Dr. Denise Smith and Dr. Steven Petruzzello, who have doctorates in kinesiology and exercise science, respectively. Both Smith and Petruzzello have over 20 years of applying their research experience to fire service issues.
Smith is a UI alumna and IFSI Research collaborator who directs Skidmore University’s First Responder Health and Safety Laboratory. She specializes in the physiological responses to firefighting with an emphasis on cardiovascular and thermal insults. Smith believes that an advanced degree allows her to generate research on the most pressing issues to firefighter health and safety—cardiovascular events, carcinogenic exposure, thermal strain and musculoskeletal injuries. She has participated in research that has led to changes in national standards, individual fire departments, and in the national conversation about firefighter health and safety based on research.
Petruzzello has been directly engaged in research projects related to responder fitness with the IFSI Firefighter Academy since the early 2000s, and has also led projects related to cognitive responses related to exercise/physical activity. One such project looked at firefighters being asked to measure their perceived exertion during firefighting evolutions and also estimate the distance they had traveled over the course of that work. Petruzzello leverages his degree to help understand a wide range of physiological challenges that impact firefighters, especially issues related to health and well-being of the firefighter. He draws motivation from knowing that his work has an actual impact on a group that is devoted to keeping their communities safer.
Horn, Smith and Petruzzello were all founding members of the Firefighter Life Safety Research Center. In 2008, the Center published Firefighter Fatalities and Injuries: The Role of Heat Stress and PPE (https://www.fsi.illinois.edu/documents/research/FFLSRC_FinalReport.pdf). This extensive, interdisciplinary study brought together the IFSI research team in collaboration with scientists from the UI departments of Kinesiology and Community Health, Psychology, Mechanical Science and Engineering, and Medicine, with Skidmore University along with two private companies. The report led to a better understanding of obesity in the fire service; firefighters’ preexisting medical conditions; the physiological impacts of firefighting on the human body, including changes in coagulation; and changes in gait and balance caused by wearing PPE. Without a team of researchers with varying levels of degrees and differing areas of expertise, along with strong engagement from the fire service expressing the importance of these topics, large research projects like this would not be possible.
The IFSI research team also includes Dr. Terry von Thaden who studies human factors in the fire service. Her recent area of study focuses on bullying, harassment and sexual assault in the fire service. Von Thaden came to IFSI from the University’s Institute for Aviation where her previous projects have included studies of cockpit decision-making. She embraces the idea that firefighters are partners in research more than subjects, with the goal of this partnership being to help scientists work with the fire service to understand and solve real-world problems. In recent years, this partnership has allowed von Thaden to more deeply study issues surrounding culture and psychology in the fire service that are based upon mutual respect, and a shared understanding that some of these below-the-waterline issues play a huge role in the interpersonal dynamics in the fire service. Her research is survey- and interview-based, and represents a different array of data collection methods.
As for me, my area of research is also in the field of culture and change. My dissertation was a case study of a fire department that underwent a significant set of positive changes as the result of a line-of-duty death (LODD). The research was conducted in a qualitative way, relying on detecting patterns identified during interviews, observations, and studying documents and historical aspects of the subject being studied. The investigation revealed the strong connection between leadership and culture change, categorized 28 areas of growth and change that the department experienced as it recovered from the tragedy, and validated a model for measuring culture change in the fire service. I continue to research this area, exploring how models of culture change can be leveraged by fire departments to map out a planned change in advance. One such project is looking at how to encourage firefighters to perform decontamination after participating in live-fire training to limit the exposure to and risks from the products of combustion. I am also interested in exploring whether there is a correlation between accredited certification and firefighter safety.
Rounding out the area of research into the field of individual factors is the working relationship that IFSI has with the Carle Foundation Hospital. The hospital and trauma center has two EMS physicians, Dr. Brad Weir and Dr. Mike Smith, who serve as IFSI’s medical directors. They are adding to the understanding of sepsis, excited delirium, the stability of medication in the field setting, and an innovative project with the resuscitation of working public safety canine partners. With most calls for fire department service being for emergency medical situations, Weir and Smith leverage their board certifications in emergency medicine and EMS in the prehospital care environment.
Applying the research
We’ve reviewed some of the research performed by members of the IFSI, but once the research is complete, how is that information shared with the fire service?
Dr. Lian Ruan, IFSI’s head librarian and international program director, studies how fire instructors use information, leading to a better understanding of how to catalog library materials to better suit the fire service users. She also played a role in developing FireTalk, an industry-specific thesaurus that aids in locating topics within fire service publications. Ruan’s degree in library and information science aids her in leading the IFSI Library, one of only three libraries in the United States dedicated to the service of fire and emergency service users. In addition to ensuring that information is available for students and staff at IFSI and across Illinois, under Ruan’s leadership, the IFSI library also serves members of the general public and supports special collections that are accessed by users across the campus and throughout Illinois. Her other area of interest is international librarianship, and she keeps IFSI’s library connected to best practices in information management with peer institutions around the world. Ruan has worked in her role at IFSI for over 20 years.
In addition to the specific researchers and projects listed here, there are broader applications for doctoral-level research in the fire and emergency services. While anyone can study fire service problems, developing the research agenda and plan requires a partnership between researchers and the fire service so that the research is practical, useful and meaningful. The creation of new knowledge within our ranks is a crucial component on the journey from firefighting as a trade to realizing the fire service as a profession.
Doctoral degrees equip researchers with the formal information-gathering, research and analytical skills that allow them to understand what has already been studied and the methods used to further investigate those areas. The process of writing a dissertation and conducting ongoing research requires an analysis of both the trade-oriented and peer-reviewed literature, a justifiable plan for performing a particular study using a selected method, and the ability to analyze and synthesize results at the highest level.
Future research
As examples of potential research areas, the IFSI team indicated that generating data to improve fire prevention activities can lead to better and more targeted programs to reach at-risk demographics. Being able to generate this information from within the fire service means we can better control our destiny for the agenda of and funding for fire-based research programs. We can also help ensure that the results are readily available, understandable and applicable to fire and EMS problems in our communities.
Another potential research area is cardiovascular strain associated with firefighter-athletes. As a profession, we have the highest level of cardiovascular stress out of all occupational groups and have a disproportionate number of cardiac events. This calls for a closer study by persons with an understanding of both the physiology and the environment that fires create.
In sum
IFSI exists at the unique intersection of firefighting training, education, information and research supported by the broader purpose of a land grant university. The blending of these missions allows IFSI to generate, share and leverage new knowledge to both improve firefighter safety as well as to better understand the impacts of firefighting on the members’ physical, social and physiological health. It is the doctoral researchers like Horn, Smith and the others listed above, working hand-in-hand with fire service leaders, who can pave the road to a safer and healthier profession, one study at a time.
For a complete listing of IFSI research projects, please visit fsi.illinois.edu/content/research/projects.cfm.
