The Firelands Ambulance District Board has taken unanimous action to support the agency’s EMS Chief, Jeffrey Scott, and his new blocker plan that is aimed to enhance the safety of first responders at traffic crash incidents. This safety plan includes support to local law enforcement, fire departments, EMS and tow truck operators.
“EMS, fire, law enforcement, tow truck drivers and other support other agencies place their lives on the line every day, and one of the riskiest areas is working roadway incidents and traffic crashes,” Chief Scott states. “We must make sure we are doing all we can to protect our first responders and mitigate these risks as a part of our response culture and stop making excuses and leaning on the old complacency adage: ‘we have never done it this way before.’ Complacency attitudes, where we hear the saying ‘it’s just the way we have always done it,’ has caused needless injury and harm to our first responders over the years. We have a responsibility to overcome this complacency by driving forward with data-informed, data-driven decision making, while taking bold, brave new steps forward with programs like this, that will foster a safer culture, drive innovation, help produce better outcomes, reduces risk and injury, and ultimately save lives.”
The blocker program for Firelands EMS is one of many new safety measures being implemented under the agency’s new chief. Firelands EMS is focusing on training the members of the agency on optimal emergency equipment positioning at crash scenes, instituting stronger scene safety protocols, and is issuing new properly fitted traffic safety vests and personnel safety lighting for each of its EMS responders. All of this is an attempt to not only save the lives of Firelands emergency responders, but other agencies responders who are on these crash scenes also.
“We need to do everything we can to ensure the safety of our crews and our responding agency partners,” Chief Scott states. “I’m passionate about getting this program implemented for Firelands EMS, because it is a real priority, and we hope to expand this to our other surrounding partner agencies to fill a gap and a desperately needed safety strategy that I hope takes off in the future for other departments as well. The best ideas, especially ones involving safety, are those we can share; share resources and replicate, to better serve our communities and ensure the safety of our teams.”
Firelands EMS will be the first in this region of Ohio to implement the program at this advanced level by having a dedicated blocker truck and specially trained EMS volunteer responder crews available for crash incidents, whether injury or non-injury.
“Ohio is not immune to emergency responders who have been struck and killed, or seriously injured while working a crash or roadway incident”. Recently, in 2023, a local volunteer firefighter/EMT from West Salem, Ohio was struck and killed by a motorist while working on a crash scene,” Chief Scott stated.
“This one really hit close to home for me and our agency, because it is so close to us, as this volunteer firefighter’s kids were part of my daughter’s competitive cheer team, and I witnessed the devastation in his girls’ eyes because their dad, a volunteer firefighter, will never come home again. I swore to myself, I will do everything in my power to attempt to prevent this from ever happening to our first responders and agencies we mutual aid with.”
These kinds of tragedies are not just happening somewhere far off, they are happening right here in our local area and throughout the State, including many law enforcement officers, tow truck drivers and other public safety personnel who have been tragically killed on roadways. We must be proactive in ensuring our emergency personnel are safe, or at least we need to provide as much opportunity for them to do their jobs safely and return home to their families. My responsibility as a chief is to make sure I do everything I can to get my crews back home to their families. Any loss in our industry is one loss too many, especially when we can implement measures, even simple measures like this, that tremendously reduce on-scene injuries to public safety personnel, and reduce cost and expense to the taxpayers and insurance carriers. It’s a win/win no matter how you look at it, and it is being done by implementing something so simple and with resources that are readily available to us.”
While funds are very tight for most volunteer Fire and EMS agencies, including Firelands EMS, Chief Scott was able to locate a retired fire engine that faithfully served the community of Niles, Ohio. The cost: $4,500.
Chief Scott states, “While it is a 1990s-era retired fire engine, this unit has a ton of life left in it. The truck has a solid frame and excellent running mechanicals.” While some new reflective decals were added to distinguish the trucks’ new purpose, Firelands EMS is also paying tribute to the engines former agency by keeping the “E-8” lettering on the truck.
Chief Scott stated, “As a team, we felt it was important to honor this old fire trucks’ past, the agency it represented, the men and women who served on it, and the community it faithfully served so many years. E-8 is now paying it forward for the safety of our community, our volunteers, and our mutual aid partners. What a great way for us to honor the tradition’s we hold sacred in Fire and EMS service.”
Chief Scott stated that one of the best resources to help reduce crash scene first responder injuries and fatalities is right under our noses; that is, recycling and repurposing older, retired fire engines that may still have lots of life left in them but are no longer able to be used to fight fire. The massive structure of these engines is perfect for blocking crash scenes and offering a shield to first responders. Retired fire engines are often already equipped with emergency lights, reflective striping, cost considerably less, and are more easily replaced if they are damaged or totaled if struck by a motorist while the truck is blocking a crash and protecting expensive apparatus and vehicles on scenes.
The large frame of these types of units makes it perfect for retrofitting specialty equipment like a crash barrier, called an attenuator, as well as traffic directional sign boards. Retrofitting a retired fire engine helps keep costs manageable for agencies where a tight budget is the norm. With the reduced cost of retired engines, it can be easier to make this kind of program a reality for agencies in smaller areas, even if they are depending on grants or other philanthropic generosity. Whether your local Fire or EMS agency is fulltime, part-time, or volunteer staffed, the need for such a program is unquestionable.
The key to success for a safe traffic incident scene is not only having the right equipment, but having a dedicated safety crew, specifically trained in the National Traffic Incident Management operational model.
Chief Scott says: “Putting into practice the nationally recognized guidelines for traffic incident management, and by a dedicated and trained crew that focuses only on the safety at the scene and is separate from fire and medical providers at the scene, allows those on-scene medical providers, firefighters, and law enforcement, to focus on their life saving efforts, knowing their backs are covered and they can do their work safely, and get back home to their families and lives in one piece.”
Both Fire and EMS volunteer agencies throughout the U.S. are feeling the pinch of fewer volunteers volunteering. Agencies are often short on manpower and may not have enough personnel, or specifically trained personnel who can focus solely on managing the traffic safety aspects of a roadway emergency. Crash scenes can often be very hectic in the initial stages, and emergency responders are focused on doing their jobs to save lives. It is clear, however, there really needs to be a crew dedicated solely to traffic safety, keeping those Fire, EMS, and law enforcement responders safe while they do their work, and that is where Firelands EMS hopes to help fill the gap with this dedicated team.
Chief Scott stated, “It’s all about teamwork on traffic crash incidents, including proper placement and positioning of emergency vehicles and having the right people, in the right places on these scenes, to ensure safety is in play each and every time. This has to be a priority moving forward, and we are taking a very progressive step towards ensuring that safety exists for all responders we work with…safety and quality patient care is our number one focus, and we have to ensure our personnel, and other partner agencies we work with and beside, are able to be safe in order to provide that quality care in their moment of need.”
As a small volunteer EMS agency, Firelands EMS is making good use of its available volunteer members who are donating their time and labor, making the necessary modifications to get their blocker unit, hoping to have it up, in-service and operational within the next few weeks. While this unit does not have all the bells and whistles installed yet, Firelands EMS is encouraged by several gracious donations made so far, to make this program a reality in this first phase. One of these donations was from a local sign shop who supplied and installed all the high-visibility reflective markings and graphics for no cost to the agency. Also, through the generosity of a local volunteer fire department and mutual aid partner agency, as well as other smaller donated funds, additional LED safety emergency lights now adorn the blocker unit to enhance its visibility and side warning light capabilities.
Additionally, the agency has used online marketplaces and wholesale traffic supply companies to acquire donated or low-cost traffic cones, portable signs, and other roadway alert markings to get the project started, and they plan to upgrade the unit with more advanced scene safety equipment as their budget allows or donations become available.
Chief Scott stated: “While this is just the beginning phase, we are doing everything we can to locate additional funding sources, both philanthropic and grant support, to help expand the blocker trucks capabilities and safety features.”
The most expensive part of the plan (phase 2) now is the addition of an attenuator unit and electronic direction display sign that will provide additional safety to emergency crews. The cost for these upgrades is estimated at around $125,000.
In addition to the future upgrades, Firelands EMS is also hoping to find grant funding or philanthropic support to add a specially equipped UTV and trailer (to be pulled behind the blocker unit), so the blocker unit can protect the main traffic line of the crash while the UTV can travel to the opposite side of the crash scene to coordinate the passing flow of traffic and ensure safety and communications are facilitated, increasing scene safety.
Chief Scott stated: “Our goal is very simple. We are in the business to save lives and serve our community to the best of our ability, with a progressive minded leadership focus. Our mission is to help our neighboring agencies stay safe and provide a necessary service to protect the lives of the ‘lifesavers,’ to minimize risk, and minimize damage to precious and expensive emergency services assets or apparatus. We want to do everything we can to protect our first responders, who put their lives on the line daily for others and get them home safe.”
In addition to the blocker unit, Firelands EMS has recently upgraded its safety measures for its volunteer EMS staff and crews with a generous grant for fitted traffic safety vests.
