Should the NFA do more to make communities safer?

Created from the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974, the National Fire Academy (originally envisioned as the National Academy for Fire Prevention and Control) was charged with training fire, and now EMS, personnel, developing model curricula, develop entrance and promotional examination materials, and encourage fire prevention and detection for builders, contractors, and architects.  Since that time, the NFA has created and distributed a wide variety of training programs and made a significant contribution to the reduction of risk through training and education.  Its flagship programs, Managing Officer and Executive Fire Officer Programs are geared towards training company and executive officers, with the Executive Fire Officer Program requiring a significant research paper.  Other programs include community risk reduction, fire cause and origin, fire codes and standards, training, EMS, safety, hazardous materials, planning and information management, and incident management. 

It is my humble opinion that the NFA could leverage these programs to create safer communities by creating voluntary training pathways that include the include a capstone project.  I am proposing that the fire and emergency services community come together and advocate for such a program.  This program would link courses both in a single curricula area and across curricula area and require that participants complete the courses then develop, implement, and report on a capstone project to address an issue within their local community.  This would improve the return on investment for communities and the NFA and create a national level program incubator to address hazards.  The reporting mechanism can then serve as a repository of successful and unsuccessful projects, providing potential solutions for communities which may be facing similar challenges.  It is my belief that the introduction of such a program would significantly reduce community risk on a national level within 10 – 15 years, resulting in safer communities, reduced cost associated with response and recovery from incidents, and improved health and safety of emergency responders.

What are your thoughts?  Is the nation ready for a proactive program that improves safety while keeping costs down?