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Always Use a Spotter!

Friday, October 23, 2009

My incident began similarly to the way many others we read on here do. We were on a call for an activated fire alarm when we were dispatched to an ambulance call. I was the driver of the ambulance; my partner, still in his bunker gear, jumped in the rear of the ambulance to dress down. Instead of thoroughly thinking through what I should do, I merely reacted. I decided to perform a simple three-point turn to get out of the parking lot and onto the street. Our department SOG dictates no matter what the situation, we must always use a spotter when backing and in cases where this is impossible the driver must complete a 360° walk-around before attempting a backing maneuver. I now fully understand why. As I’m sure someone could assume, my simple three-point turn, was not so simple. Although I checked my mirrors and the rear back up camera, I did not have a spotter, although one was available, nor did I complete a 360° walk-around before attempting the backing portion of the three-point turn. As a result I hit a concrete pole. Most people may not consider this to be that big of a deal, and in this case it was not. The problem is what could have happened. The possibilities are endless. What if there were a small child standing there I didn’t see? What if I injured my partner? What if the ambulance was out of service because of the accident? What if I delayed the response to the medical emergency? The point I’m trying to make is there is no excuse for not following proper procedures.
LESSONS LEARNED:
These rules have all been enacted over the years, and for a good reason. The simple three-point turn I perform in my car every day, could have been a disaster for my department, me personally and my career. This has definitely taught me one thing; I will always use a spotter when backing a piece of apparatus in the future. And more than that, I will always do my best to follow department policies which I’ve learned the hard way are there for my protection.

Flying Bumper Piston Causes Injury

Saturday, October 17, 2009

It was shift change on 9/12/09 and a call came in for a car fire. It was quickly upgraded to a possible structure fire as reports indicated the vehicle was against a building. Our engine arrived first on scene to find a 1987 Volvo 780 backed up against a brick commercial building. The building was not involved but the engine compartment was fully engulfed. We stopped short of the vehicle, about 40 feet away and at an angle. While giving my size up on the radio, I heard a loud bang. I initially thought it was a tire exploding, but heard my driver utter some choice words. I looked over and saw a half-dollar sized hole in the windshield right near the driver’s face. It turns out that there were several pieces of glass in the driver’s eye, resulting in a scratched cornea (the driver was fully recovered by next shift). Initially we thought that only the metal bumper had struck the engine causing all of the damage. The assistant chief saw the debris flying through the air as he pulled on to the scene and there was a good-sized impact mark on the front of the vehicle below the hole in the windshield. A large section of bumper was found in the middle of the road next to the engine. Days later, we realized that a small piece of the bumper piston had actually flown through the windshield and ended up behind the officers airpack in the front seat. Timing played into our favor because had this been thirty seconds later, the debris that impacted the engine could easily have hit the crew stretching the hoseline to extinguish the fire.

LESSONS LEARNED:

We learn in our training that in order to safely approach a vehicle fire, we should approach at forty five degree angles to the front and rear of the vehicle. We know that we should be mindful of overhead wires and attempt to park uphill from a burning vehicle. After the incident of September 12th we realized that we also should have positioned the apparatus farther away from the incident. Parking farther away encourages crews to use a longer hoseline and start applying water from an appropriate angle, yet farther away from potential projectiles. Our incident also reinforced the idea of never getting in front of or behind a vehicle fire until it is properly cooled. While part of one bumper piston ended up in our engine, the other bumper piston rocketed forward and was found in the grass approximately seventy feet from the burned vehicle. There was a large gouge in the pavement where it initially hit, before landing in the grass. This also could have been a close call if the crew or bystanders were in front of the burning vehicle. The crew did not believe we were taking a car-fire call for granted. Our mistake was in assuming we were safe inside the apparatus.

Cars Run FD Roadblock at Accident Scene

Monday, October 5, 2009

Crews were operating at the scene of a Personal Injury Crash with Ejection and Entrapment on Alleghney River Blvd. 221 Service w/ a crew of 2 was instructed to shut down the roadway at Allegheny River Blvd and Nadine Rd. while other units worked the crash. Approx 30 to 45 min into the operations the Service unit called Command reporting a car had run there road block and was requesting police. The 2 quick thinking FFon the truck were able to get out of the way and no injuries were reported. Both inidicated they heard the vehicle approaching with what sounded like a falt tire and moving at a slow rate of speed. as it got closer thry could see the driver was going to attempt to get between the Service Truck and a guard rail. The driver did get between the service and the gaurdrail but the FF were able to get the driver to stop and then removed the keys from the vehicle by telling the what appeared to be very intoxicated female driver they would change the change the tire for her. Police arrived and handle the situation from there. On a side note the Roadblock on the other end of the accident was provided by and Engine there were 3 cars that broke that roadblock during the course of the accident but fortunatley they did make it far due to the quick thinking of the FF that were there as well. What are people thinking when they see Fire and Police vehicles blocking roadway.

Squad Passes Engine on Run - Close Call

Friday, September 4, 2009

Our engine was the third piece in for an accident with reported entrapment and possible cardiac arrest. The first due engine and our utility were already on scene removing the victim. As our engine was approaching the left turn onto a 2 lane secondary road, stopped in the crossover of a 4 lane primary highway, where there is a curve and a hill. The heavy squad of the first due company went around on the officer's side at high speed without stopping to check for traffic. The driver of our engine had just stepped on the accelerator after he had stopped and started to proceed just as the squad came around him. He immediately stopped our engine because it was very clear the squad had no intentions of stopping. Had our driver continued one of them would have gone into the ditch or the opposite lanes of travel? Let alone possibly severely damaging our only engine that we have no replacement money for in the first place. By the way, the squad was running understaffed with only 2 people. There were 2 ALS ambulances already on scene as well as an understaffed engine and our utility and numerous other fire/ems personnel. There was no need whatsoever for this type of action since the victim had already been removed from the vehicle and CPR had been started.
Lessons Learned:
Risk vs. benefit: risking lives to do nothing is totally un-acceptable. Just as one apparatus driver used poor judgment in operating his vehicle, there was another driver who was only released to drive 2 months ago, used what he had been taught and made a very good decision.

Aerial Narrowly Misses Hitting Power Lines

Monday, August 24, 2009

While operating a 100' quint @ a large furnitire warehouse fire our 100' quint turntable started to slowly rotate the opposite direction from the direction of the fire stream. The problem seems to be when flowing close to the 1000 GPM manufacturer recommendation in any direction, the nozzle when rotated close to a 45 degree angle from left to right creates enough back pressure to over ride the springbrake for the turntable. While we were over the recommended 10' from power lines, by the time the operator noticed the problem and took corrective action (attempted to move the ladder to the left, not the nozzle) caused the ladder to drift faster and came in contact with the power lines. The lines had been de-energized but this was a very close call.

LESSONS LEARNED:

1. Moving the nozzle back to center point would have stopped the movement of the ladder.

2. When a person is on the quint itself we will have 1 person at the turntable and 1 person at the pump panel. We only had 1 person assigned to the turntable and that person had left the turntable area to do other tasks.

3. The manufacturer is looking at the springbrake problem to see if there is a fix.

4. Rewriting our training guide for quint operations to not rotate the nozzle more than 30 degrees off center of the ladder.

Burning Flatbed Rolls Away - Injures FFs

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

At approximately 1400 we received a call for vehicle fire south bound on the Eastern Extension of the New Jersey Turnpike. Two Engines, a Ladder Tower, and a Deputy Chiefs vehicle were dispatched to the scene as per our normal response. Upon arrival we found a flatbed truck with the cab and engine compartment fully involved on the right shoulder. It is important to note that this section of the NJ Turn Pike is an elevated bridge and we were positioned facing uphill with only a 4 – 5 foot concrete barrier on the side of the shoulder. The first due engine arrived on the scene and parked up hill in front of the vehicle along with the Ladder-Tower. The State Police were on the scene prior to our arrival and had the shoulder and the right lane blocked and they were positioned behind the vehicle downhill. As per our protocol the second due Engine staged near the toll plaza. As I arrived on the scene in the D/C vehicle I was forced to park downhill behind two State Police vehicles. All three of our vehicles were in line on the shoulder starting approximately 20-feet behind the vehicle. As the First due engine was just starting the suppression efforts the flatbeds brakes let loose and the flatbed, which was still smoldering with fire in the cab area at the time, started to roll backwards along the shoulder between the concrete barriers and the right lane traffic. The two State Police vehicles moved into the right lane but the D/C vehicle was trapped on the shoulder behind the moving vehicle. I hopped in the D/C vehicle and drove backwards at the speed of flatbed in case I had to attempt to use the D/C car to stop the flatbed from turning into oncoming traffic. The Vehicle rolled down the hill, uncontrolled, for approximately 360-feet until a member was able to turn the steering wheel so that the vehicle turned into the concrete barrier and came to a complete stop. This vehicle could have easily run over an emergency worker on the scene or turned into oncoming traffic as it was in motion. Two members were injured while attempting to stop this vehicle while it was in motion. One had minor burns to his palms and injured his knee, and the second had a second degree burn along with a laceration to his right palm. This was an easily preventable accident had we chocked the vehicle immediately upon arrival. This action is often performed by the Ladder Company on the scene, however they were still in the process of donning their SCBA’s as the brakes let loose.

Lessons Learned: Chock the vehicle immediately upon arrival; do not wait for the second due Have planned escape routes in case the vehicle moves forward or backwards Have good communications with other first responders and have them move to a safe area.

Peach Co, GA Ambulance Rollover

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Peach County (GA) EMS ambulance overturned responding to an overturned vehicle about an hour ago. One paramedic was entrapped and both were transported to the hospital.

Wrecker Driver almost splatters two firefighters and State troopers

Monday, July 27, 2009

Sunday July 26, 2009 - We got on scene in POV to a motorcycle wreck around 10pm Sunday night. The motorcycle had run from troopers and wrecked into an area of road in a rural wooded area on a set of s-curves. Medical personell decided to lifeflight the driver. So, we all relocated to an open field down the road. During apparatus placement one of our trucks got stuck in the ditch. We then requested a heavy wrecker from the nieghboring county to respond. It was then, that a firefighter said he had lost his cap back at the scene. Me and my friend got into his POV and proceeded back to the area to search for the guys cap. We got out and asked the troopers if they saw it. It was at that time the wrecker came around the S curve and didnt seem to slow down. We ran across the road as the wrecker smashed into the ditch where we were just standing. Luckily no one got hurt this time.

Lessons learned: Always stay alert when working wrecks. Apparatus placement is also essential on dangerous sections of road not only for Fire Departments, but also any other emergency personel working the road.

Wrecker Driver Sends Vehicle Rolling Towards Patients!

Saturday, July 25, 2009

While treating patients of a motor vehicle accident, the wrecker driver hooked to one vehicle. He began to pull the vehicle away from the other vehicle. Once the vehicle was clear, the other vehicle began rolling toward a police car holding a patient from the accident and a fireman.

Lessons Learned: Always check the emergency brake and set the vehicles in park or scotch them at all MVA scenes.

Ambulance Almost Struck while Transporting Pt.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Our ambulance was transporting a patient to the hospital around 10:00 Tuesday morning. We were starting up a hill, in the right lane of a four lane highway. A car in the left lane started up the hill slow, and a truck behind the car blew his horn. I have no idea what the driver was thinking but decided to come over into our lane. My driver did a great job at avoiding to hit the other driver but we could not have missed by more than a foot. The other driver never knew we were there.

Lessons Learned: Always be ready to react when driving apparatus. Use the left lane until you have to merge in the right lane. It was a WTF pucker factor!!!

In attention causes Captains foot to become caught in ladder

Sunday, July 19, 2009

I Heard the scream of my captain. On June 6 at 11:30 a.m. the fire dept was having group training, one group was at the 105ft rear mount quint. The quint was across the street from the station parked on a flat street and no objects in the way, far as power lines or buildings. There were 2 captains one probationary and the chief training officer at the quint. The rest of the firefighters were in front of the station. One female captain was at the tip of the ladder the other captain was at the controls on the turntable with the probationary ff. The ladder was 75ft out at the time, low angle. The captain at the tip had taken her feet off the foot rest's and put them one rung up, so that made her toes stick down through the rungs. The captain on the turntable did not realize she had done this, as he took back controls he then started showing the probationary what each control did. the first control moved was the retract. The two captains did not communicate to each other to see if it was ok to move the ladder. As the captain retracted we heard this scream from the captain at the tip of the ladder, my foot, my foot. Another inch and her foot probably would be detached. So the foot was pinched (in the middle of the foot) the ladder had to be extended a couple inches to release the foot. I was in front of the fire station when this happened and assisted in getting the captain of the quint while others got the squad ready. The training chief was at the rear of the truck and witnessed this.

Lessons Learned: If you get bored of your training don't show up. This fire captain said she got bored and moved around and lack of communication. Let the engineer know your moving around

Extinguisher Falls Off Apparatus - Explodes

Friday, July 10, 2009

Our Fire Dept. was called mutual aid to a house fire this am with their tanker when they crossed the railroad tracks a 25 pound dry chemical fire extinguisher broke free out of its exterior holder falling on the road and exploding luckily there was no homes in that area and no vehicles behind the truck no one was injured in the incident.

Lessons Learned: Make sure EVERYTHING is secure and that the securing devices are in good working condition

Cologne FD Specialized Truck Crashes Into Tree

Thursday, July 9, 2009

A COLOGNE, GERMANY, SPECIALIZED TRUCK WENT off the road and crashed into a tree Wednesday afternoon. The vehicle is an equipment van that carries tools and rigging for animal rescue operations.

It is not yet known why the truck left the roadway, nor has it been reported if it was responding on a call. The crash severely crumpled the front end and trapped the two firefighters. The 52-yr.-old driver and the 47-yr.-old passenger both had to be extricated using hydraulic tools. The operation took about an hour to free them successfully.

The passenger was critically injured, but the driver had only minor injuries.

Rodenkirchen.de has the STORY.
The Cologne Fire Department (Feuerwehr-Koln) has an extensive, 140-image photo gallery of the entire extrication operation HERE.

Cascade Truck/Trailer Crash - Some Good Points

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

A fire apparatus from a large volunteer fire department in Maury County, Tennessee had a close call within the City limits of Columbia. This is not a close call because the apparatus crash almost occurred but because when it occurred no one was seriously physically injured. There was property damage on the fire apparatus and the citizen's vehicle. There is also the issue of the public trust “To do no harm” and the good reputation of the fire department is damaged. Another fact that made this crash tragic is that this same fire department had an apparatus in-intersection crash in February 2009. Both crashes involved the front bumper/brush guard of the apparatus and the side of the citizens’ vehicles. In both incidents, the cause was determined to be “unavoidable”.

The IAFC and the IAFF both call for departments around the world to enact SOPs that require fire apparatus to “Stop” at all negatively controlled intersections (STOP signs, RED traffic controls, railroad crossings, etc) It is probably not as fun as flying down the street bursting through the intersections all while talking on the radio and blowing the big horn but it is must safer. If the apparatus stops and the operator and officer are both looking to be aware of their surroundings, the chances of a crash are minimized; especially crashes involving the front bumper of the apparatus.
The fire departments must also develop SOPs that define resource deployment. In the pictures provided of this close call, a brush truck towing a light and air trailer strikes a citizen’s pickup truck at a large intersection. The department was responding to a vehicle crash with possible injuries. It was found that there was a crash but no one was injured. Some questions that come to mind are: Why was this apparatus deployed to respond emergency mode especially while towing a trailer? Does the department have an intersection SOP? Does the apparatus meet NFPA 1901 or is it a homemade unit that has not been tested? Does the apparatus operator’s training meet NFPA? Chiefs, you owe it to the members of your department and the citizens you come in contact with to ask these questions, answer them honestly, and then develop/implement a plan to address each question. Then you can report a “Lessons Learned”

Tanker Slides Off Road Shuttling Water

Monday, July 6, 2009

This tanker slid off the road while shuttling water for a lighting strike structure fire in South Yreka in Siskiyou County Ca.

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