New Study: Drivers More Fatal To Firefighters Than Fire

[WAS967 97]

http://www.thewpbfchannel.com/news/3404899/detail.html

New Study: Drivers More Fatal To Firefighters Than Fire

Firefighters Re-Evalute Getting To Fire Scene

UPDATED: 5:04 pm EDT June 10, 2004

WEST PALM BACH, Fla. -- They put their lives on the line to save yours. The

deadliest part of their job isn't fighting fires, it's fighting traffic.

The findings of a new study released Thursday sounded the alarm on drivers

who don't pay enough attention on the road. It reported that drivers last

year were more fatal to firefighters than flames.

The saying for firefighters used to be "Every second counts," but not

anymore. The new saying firefighters are expected to work by is "Accuracy,

not seconds, saves lives."

Precautions have increased dramatically since the days of racing to a call.

"We don't go blasting to calls anymore," Lt. Barry Duff, of Palm Beach

County Fire Rescue, said. "We'll proceed in a safe manner. In most

instances, we do not exceed the speed limit."

Their biggest threat is a driver who does not see or hear them.

"People are kind of in their own world," said Duff's coworker, Skip Minton.

"They're not really paying attention to their surroundings and what's going

on."

According to the National Fire Protection Association, 33 on-duty

firefighters in the U.S. died in one year driving to or from an alarm.

That's nine more fatalities than the amount of firefighters who died from an

actual fire.

"It's safe to say that people don't see you or they're not going to move out

of your way," said Craig Spiegelhalter, also of Palm Beach County Fire

Rescue.

Several years ago, a driver who didn't have the right-of-way collided with

an ambulance from station 33, injuring one of the firefighters on board.

Research shows other drivers are usually at fault, but sometimes it's due to

a firetruck's excessive speed.

Firefighters said they've been doing a more successful job at responding to

calls at the appropriate emergency level which has made their driving safer.

[x635 4,066]

I agree with the points in this article. It's definetly not worth it to go blasting to calls, the risks FAR outweigh the benefits in most cases. Theres way too much traffic, liability issues,job issues and media predators out there. But then again, theres the response time issues if you don't. My opinion, I'd rather be safe then sorry. If a response time issue is an excuse for "blasting" to calls, then it's the system that needs to be changed, not the driver.

[Guest WCDES636]

This should also include all those who are responding with Blue, green, and any other color you may have mounted on your private cars.

[BFD1054 1,552]

This is a very scary thought, but also very true. As Seth stated, i'd rather be safe than sorry. Lets face it, all agencies want a possitive reputation for having good response times. But if it means putting ourselves, our crews or the public at risk, then is it really worth those few seconds? Its unfortunate, but i always see people doing the dumbest things, weather it be the public or responders. The general public is busy doing everything while behind the wheel, with the exception of paying attention to the road! It doesn't matter how many pieces of fire, police or EMS apparatus there are on a scene, people still get stupid and don't know how to react or drive. As far as responders go, i see people driving like idiots in pov's and department vehicles and it kills me. It may sound cliche, but what good are we as responders if we don't make it to a call? A scary thought is that people are responding like maniacs to even non-emergency type calls like pump-outs or fluids in the roadway. As WCDES636 said, this article should include people using blue, green or whatever other colors of the rainbow people are using these days. We've beaten this topic to death in the past, but if you use any kind of warning light in your pov, use your head and discretion! You may not think so, but people are watching & they too know what you should and shouldn't be doing! Think of it this way, people are noisy, if there are flashing lights, people have to look and see whats going on. Even those of us involved in emergency services do it to. If there is an accident in the northbound lane, notice the traffic crawl in the southbound lanes. Thats because everyone is slowing down to catch a glimpse of the action! Thats a double-edged sword in itself because traffic is slowing which is good, but they are no paying attention and all too often cause more problems. I think i am down rambling on. In closing, i just want to say that we all need to be aware of our surrounding while responding to call and while on scene. If it means slowing down a bit, so be it, just as long as we get there in one piece so that we can do our jobs!