By Ken Robinson
FireRescue1 Staff
TIVERTON, R.I. — A NIOSH fatality report recommends fire departments have written policies and procedures to enforce a zero-tolerance policy prohibiting alcohol use by firefighters who may be called upon to act on behalf of the department.
The death of a firefighter who was intoxicated while searching for a drowning victim was primarily attributed to physical condition and inadequate capacity to perform a technical SCUBA diving operation.
Tiverton, Rhode Island, Firefighter Gerald Leduc, 52, was off duty when he responded to the incident at Stafford Pond in August last year with his personal watercraft and dive gear, the report released Thursday said.
Moments after Firefighter Leduc began his dive, firefighters in a boat noticed a diver’s tank valve floating on the surface of the water and radioed a mayday call.
Divers were unable to resuscitate Firefighter Leduc after pulling him from the water, and he was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
A medical examiner found Firefighter Leduc likely died from abnormal heart activity and had an enlarged heart, high blood pressure and an acute blood ethanol level of 0.25 percent. Rhode Island state law defines legal intoxication at 0.08 percent.
NIOSH investigators concluded that fire departments should minimize the risk of similar events by:
• Adopting the International Association of Fire Chief’s Zero-Tolerance Policy for Alcohol and Drinking to prohibit alcohol use by members of any fire or emergency services agency/organization at any time when they may be called upon to act or respond as a member of those departments, and which states that “No member of a fire & emergency services agency/organization shall participate in any aspect of the organization and operation of the fire or emergency agency/organization under the influence of alcohol, including but not limited to any fire and emergency operations, fire-police, training, etc.”
• Developing written policies and procedures to enforce the zero-tolerance policy
• Putting in place an effective incident management system that supports technical rescue operations
• Properly training, equipping, and supporting public safety divers to perform public safety diving responsibilities
• Making sure a safety officer properly trained in the technical rescue field being performed is on scene and integrated into the command structure
• Putting in place and enforcing standard operating procedures regarding technical rescue capabilities for all levels of water rescue specialty areas including SCUBA diving
• Putting in place a comprehensive risk-benefit program before participating in specialty areas including technical rescue professional level operations
• Implementing programs for training and equipment (including vessels) expected for water rescue and the inspection, maintenance, testing, and replacement of water rescue equipment including SCUBA gear
• Providing annual and periodic health, wellness, and fitness examinations with specific medical evaluations for fire fighters expected to perform technical rescues such as SCUBA diving
The report also gives recommendations to reduce cardiovascular incidents among firefighters and suggests fire departments:
• Phase in a mandatory wellness/fitness program for firefighters
• Perform a preplacement and an annual physical performance (physical ability) evaluation for all firefighters
• Make sure physicians know about the physical demands of firefighting, the components of NFPA 1582 and the additional medical and physical requirements of performing technical rescuer SCUBA diving