By FireRescue1 Staff
UNION COUNTY, N.C. — Lack of driver training, unsafe speed and an inexperienced driver were key contributing factors in the death of a Union County, N.C., firefighter, according to a NIOSH report.
The 43-year-old volunteer firefighter, Todd Hage, was killed August 11, 2007, when his vehicle overturned and crashed into a tree, the fatality report released Wednesday said.
He was responding to a false alarm at a school when he swerved his truck to avoid an oncoming vehicle and overcorrected while attempting to regain control.
Investigators recommend fire departments minimize the risk of similar incidents with the following guidelines:
- Enhance driver/operator training programs to include road and apparatus hazard recognition.
- Emphasize the need for new drivers to understand and recognize vehicle operation hazards.
- Consider requiring vehicle operators to get driver training from a state or nationally recognized training program, in addition to specific departmental driver training.
- Establish, implement, and enforce standard operating procedures (SOPs) that incorporate guidelines for safe and prudent driver/operator training.
- Include detailed curriculum for the classroom and hands-on training that is specific to the roadways within the local jurisdiction and for each apparatus.
- Attempt to establish working relationships with roadway authorities to identify and correct roadway hazards — including drop-offs, potholes and other road deformities.
- Consider working with municipalities to impose a false alarm ordinance that targets facilities that fail to adequately maintain their alarm systems.