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VolunteerFD.org Member News June 2008 |
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| Volunteer Professionals | |
| Getting Safely to the Scene | |
| By Jason Zigmont, VolunteerFD Columnist | |
 Fifteen firefighters were killed in 2006 alone responding to and returning from the scene and countless others were injured. Volunteers have gained a bad rep for responding, both in our personal and emergency vehicles. It's time we — and career firefighters — changed that to save not only the lives we are responsible for but our own, too.
 We spend considerable amounts of time training on how to be safe on the fireground, maintaining our skills, and developing rapid intervention teams, but then we neglect the most dangerous and common thing we do: driving to and from the scene. To enable us to become safer, the IAFC has identified three areas for improvement: • Always buckle up • Always stop at red lights and stop signs • Always drive at speed limits and defensively These three points may seem to be common sense, but they are often ignored. While using our lights and sirens may allow us to break motor vehicle laws, it must be done with due regard for safety — and our safety should always come first. Firefighters should know better. We are often the ones that have to pick up people who were ejected from their vehicle, but we still do not all wear our seat belts. I have heard every excuse for this, from them being uncomfortable to hampering the ability to put an airpack on. Seat belts are not only required by law in most states, but are proven to save lives. There is no excuse that is valid when it comes to our own safety. There is even a new trend to mount all airpacks in an outside compartment so that members wear their seat belt.  Full Column |
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| Visit FireRescue1's Special Fire/EMS 2008 Safety, Health and Survival Week section
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