24 Hours, 3 Ejections, 2 Dead

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Permalink Reply by Mike France on July 28, 2010 at 11:12am

It's been a bad week for the Fire Service . It's noticable .

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Permalink Reply by John K. Murphy on July 28, 2010 at 1:14pm

A Seatbelt Pledge will go along way to ensure the safety of our firefighters. Seatbelt rules need to be enforced by the apparatus officer before the apparatus leaves the firehouse. This is a preventable death of a firefighter.

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Permalink Reply by Mike France on July 28, 2010 at 1:20pm

John i agree but the issue i see hear in NY is that the law exempts Emergency Vehichle Operators aand passengers from wearing them, we wrote this in to our Op's and short of beating them into submission they refuse citing the law . that law supercides our rules. i am right battling this out with my Board .

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Permalink Reply by John K. Murphy on July 28, 2010 at 1:31pm

Chief

I just read the exclusions in NY law related to seatbelts and for the lack of better legal construct, the exclusion for emergency vehicles is "stupid"

I guess that you cannot legislate common sense.

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Permalink Reply by Brian Albert Kirkland on July 28, 2010 at 3:53pm

The firefighter in Newark didn't die. Some civilians ran into the street to protect him from traffic. He went home with a neck brace the next day. But, it was a close one.

It's in the hands of the company commanders, and they're not doing the job. We need an interlock system, like we have on our ladder company outriggers: if you don't buckle in, the rig won't start, and it has to be cheat proof.

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Permalink Reply by Mike France on July 28, 2010 at 10:31pm

John i agree with you this was inputted by the Unions , i sat for 3 hrs tonight trying to make my case as to why i believe we need to wear them, but got no where.

John K. Murphy said:

Chief

I just read the exclusions in NY law related to seatbelts and for the lack of better legal construct, the exclusion for emergency vehicles is "stupid"

I guess that you cannot legislate common sense.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Dombroski on August 6, 2010 at 4:03am

Hi Mike & others

I'm a bit late in on this discussion, but just wanted to say that we have exactly the same issues down under on the other side of the world. By far the most prevalent cause of LODD here is vehicle crashes, often with the lack of wearing seatbelts a contributing factor. We have made it policy that all staff must wear seatbelts, and part of our collective contract states that we must adhere to policy and lawful instructions from the OIC. We have just had bright yellow stickers put on the OIC dash board telling us to ensure that we instruct our crew to belt up. The management here are quite prepared to make it an employment issue, for both the firefighter and the OIC. Surely the same could apply anywhere, despite the law. For example, firefighters must be clean shaven in order to safely wear respiratiroy protection with out leaks (SCBA seal). It's a safety issue, and a policy and if someone refuses they can be fired. It's not however illegal to have a beard. Surley given the fact that we drive at higher than normal road speeds, travel through stop signs and red traffic lights and sometimes into opposing traffic, we can make these policies in the name of health and safety to protect our staff, and enforce them. I have to say, I enforce it. I only had to order one person to pull over and belt up, and the word got round. It's about officers stepping up and taking responsibility, even when that may make then unpopular for a while. It's worth pursuing this issue. Good luck and stay safe.

Mike D

Mike France said:

John i agree but the issue i see hear in NY is that the law exempts Emergency Vehichle Operators aand passengers from wearing them, we wrote this in to our Op's and short of beating them into submission they refuse citing the law . that law supercides our rules. i am right battling this out with my Board .

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