Be aware of first responders

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, September 8, 2010

My partner and I were working a vehicle accident on Airline Highway the other day, and I noticed the cars passing by very close to where we were working on a patient who had been injured. I want to remind everyone out there driving when you see the police department, ambulance or fire department at an accident please be aware of the situation and take caution.

On Dec. 23, 2000, Chicago Fire Department Truck 27 was dispatched at 02:45 hours to the site of a motor vehicle collision on an expressway to provide a traffic shield with their apparatus and to assist ambulance personnel. Two state police cars were positioned upstream (behind the ladder truck) in a further attempt to divert traffic from the work zone. As the original incident was being concluded, the 37-year-old lieutenant walked around the Truck 27 to make sure that everything was ready to go. As the lieutenant walked on the upstream side of the truck, a passenger car ran over a line of flares in an attempt to slip by traffic. The car then struck a tractor-trailer, spun and pinned the lieutenant between the car and the ladder truck. The lieutenant was treated at the scene and then airlifted to the hospital. His legs were crushed in the collision, and he had lost a substantial amount of blood. He died 10 hours later.

The driver of the car that struck the lieutenant was determined to be under the influence of alcohol and driving on a suspended driver’s license. He was later charged with reckless homicide. There were no injuries in the original collision.

Historically, deaths related to response and roadway incidents are the second leading cause of all firefighter fatalities. Over the 12 years (1996-2007) for which complete figures were available, vehicle collisions claimed 257 fire fighter lives and another 53 firefighters were lost as a result of being struck by a vehicle. Between 1996 and 2007, vehicle collisions/struck-by incidents accounted for 24 percent of all fatalities. In 2003, this figure jumped dramatically to 35 percent of all fatalities with 34 firefighters killed in vehicle collisions and five struck by vehicles.

Those past 12 years are reflective of the longer-term statistics. Through the years, on average, about 25 percent of all fire fighter fatalities are response or

roadway scene related. The number of these deaths is second only to cardiac deaths, which annually account for about 45 percent of firefighter deaths.

Just a reminder to drive safe and look out for first responders on the streets and highways.

There is a famous saying that states those who fail to recognize past experiences are doomed to repeat them.

Michael Heath is president of the St. John Professional Firefighters Association.