On Monday, in what would be 24 hours before an Ohio Firefighter would be killed in the Line of Duty (responding vehicle crash, ejection, no seat belt in use), a Trenton (New Jersey) Firefighter was seriously injured when he fell from Engine 9 while responding to a fire call.
The Firefighter fell out of the engine at about 1330 hours while the apparatus went around a curve turning out for a run.
The Firefighter was taken to the trauma center at Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton, where he was being treated late yesterday-it appears he will thankfully make a full recovery.
The fire apparatus, Engine 9 operates a “closed cab” piece of apparatus, with doors. It was officially unknown if the firefighter was wearing a seatbelt at the time.
The Firefighter fell out of the engine at about 1330 hours while the apparatus went around a curve turning out for a run.
The Firefighter was taken to the trauma center at Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton, where he was being treated late yesterday-it appears he will thankfully make a full recovery.
The fire apparatus, Engine 9 operates a “closed cab” piece of apparatus, with doors. It was officially unknown if the firefighter was wearing a seatbelt at the time.
REMEMBER FIREFIGHTER BRIAN HUNTON?
The Amarillo Fire Department received a report of a house on fire at 2200hrs on March 23, 2005. Ladder 1, an American LaFrance quint, departed Amarillo Station 1 at 2201hrs en route to the fire. As Ladder 1 turned off South Van Buren Street onto East 3rd Avenue, the left rear passenger door on the apparatus opened. Firefighter Hunton, who was preparing to don his breathing apparatus and who was not wearing a safety belt, fell from the apparatus, striking his head on the street and sustaining severe head injuries. Firefighter Hunton was transported to a local hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery. Firefighter Hunton’s condition deteriorated, and he died in the Line of Duty of his injuries at 0953hrs on April 25, 2005. The latching mechanism for the door through which Firefighter Hunton fell was found to be malfunctioning but the seatbelt was in tact-althought not in use.
An EXCELLENT Piece About Brian: https://station-pride.
SEATBELTS & FIREFIGHTERS:
BRIAN’S LODD REPORTS:
The Texas FM Report: http://www.tdi.state.tx.us/
The NIOSH Report: https://www.cdc.gov/
HOW ABOUT THIS! (Commentary)
While odds are seatbelts will always function properly-that is NOT always the case. A friend of mine in Texas told me this, his son being an EMT reported for work last month and while doing truck checks, noticed the bolts holding his seatbelt in were very loose. He took the time to make the repair and tighten up the bolts.
So what happened?
Later that shift a driver crossed the road and struck his ambulance head on. The civilian driver was killed-my friends son and his partner were not. When is the last time ANY of us checked to make sure the seat belts were in working order? I know I haven’t.