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This
section is devoted to those who have been injured
or lost their lives in the line of duty with
the hope that those who visit this site will
PREVENT "HISTORY FROM REPEATING ITSELF"
OUR GOAL is for you, as a FIREFIGHTER to LEARN
from these "events" and TAKE THE INFORMATION
BACK TO YOUR FIREFIGHTERS and SHARE IT WITH
THEM!
Each
one of these "CLOSE CALLS" can happen
ANYWHERE! Each of these FD's thought that "today
was gonna just be another day"... just
like you and I... and then BAM! Something goes
wrong. Please take this information and use
it, print it, forward it, post it and do WHATEVER
IT TAKES to pass it on and NEVER GIVE
UP on focusing on FIREFIGHTER SAFETY!
Each CASE STUDY in this section is based upon
the writers description of the events.
Be
sure to read FIREHOUSE
MAGAZINE each month and learn ADDITIONAL
LESSONS LEARNED from the CLOSE CALLS COLUMN.
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WHY
WEAR A SEAT BELT??
Here is a great example: While not a fire service
video, this clip shows exactly WHY
seatbelts are so critical. Imagine this occuring
inside a rig, with tools, equipment and other firefighters…
flying around. There is enough fire & EMS history
to justify the need for the use of belts by all. |
| Lack
of Seat Belt Use?? (A few words from the
NHTSA)
Many
fatalities could have been avoided had seat belts
been used. All vehicles, regardless of age, should
be equipped with seat belts. All fire agencies
have mandatory seat belt policies. The issue is
voluntary compliance. People need to be aware
of recent statistics that show while only twenty-five
percent of people still do not wear seat belts,
this one person in four minority accounts for
a whopping sixty percent of all vehicle deaths.
A study by the NHTSA in 2001 identified a seventy-five
percent death rate of occupant ejections involving
passenger car fatalities. Only one percent of
those occupants had been wearing seat belts. During
the past 26 years, seat belts have prevented over
135,000 fatalities. It has been estimated that
during this same period, if all vehicle occupants
had been wearing seat belts, a further 315,000
deaths and 5.2 million injuries could have been
prevented. A fact sheet prepared by the NHTSA
detailing those statistic and other seat belt
facts can be accessed HERE.
CONCLUSION
The
keys to avoiding the pitfalls of these human factor
accidents are driver education, hands on training
and refresher training. Vehicle operators should
receive supervised driver education in a controlled
environment and become completely familiar with
each vehicle's characteristics. Hands on training
should include completing a pre-trip vehicle safety
inspection and knowledge of the vehicles load
capacity. The training should conclude with a
road test to demonstrate the operator proficiency
of each vehicle to be driven. Refresher training
should also be provided since another human factor,
redundancy, often leads to complacency. For further
recommendations relating to vehicle operator training,
go HERE. |
| APPARATUS/VEHICLE/HIGHWAY
Firefighter Close Calls
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| Notification
USE OF INFORMATION FROM FirefighterCloseCalls.com and The Secret List should be passed along to FIREFIGHTERS and those who support (or are supposed to support!) us! Credit shall be given to www.firefighterclosecalls.com and if you are truly committed to firefighter safety, that should be no problem. If you aren't, and you don't give us credit and try to prostitute this stuff as your own, we'll find you and expose you. We Promise. Odd's are... our mailing list is bigger than yours!
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