Chief's Corner Archive

A Spotlight on Innovative Fire Prevention and Safety Programs

Emergency Vehicle Safety

Posted on November 7, 2006 by Charlie Dickinson, Acting Assistant Administrator, USFA

The United States Fire Administration (USFA) and the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) have recently developed the Guide to Model Policies and Procedures for Emergency Vehicle Safety, a comprehensive Web-based educational program for fire service leadership aimed at reducing the impact of vehicle related incidents on the fire service and the communities they protect. This program provides in-depth information for developing policies and procedures required to support the safe and effective operation of emergency vehicles in the fire service, as well as privately-owned vehicles.

The production of this program along with the Improving Apparatus Response and Roadway Operations Safety in the Career Fire Service, another Web-based program created through a partnership with the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) which includes both instructor and participant guides, and the Emergency Vehicle Safe Operations for Volunteer and Small Combination Emergency Service Organizations developed with the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC), reflects a unified effort to reduce the number of firefighters killed while responding to or returning from incidents, the cause of approximately 25 percent of firefighter fatalities.

These three programs were a result of the partnerships with several leading fire service membership organizations as a follow on to the Emergency Vehicle Safety Initiative, a USFA project developed to reduce the number of firefighters killed while responding to or returning from the emergency scene.

Vehicle crashes are the second leading cause of on duty firefighter deaths and this cannot continue! These crashes undermine the mission of all firefighters to arrive first, and then assist individuals needing emergency help. In addition, this is not a problem that only impacts the fire service, but also impacts those we are to protect. In fact, a 1998 University of Michigan Study illustrated that there were 2,472 fire apparatus crashes yearly killing 21 and injuring 642 civilians.

To call attention to the severity of the problem, reduction of firefighter fatalities from crashes became the focus of this year's Firefighter Safety Stand Down. In order to continue to enhance your own emergency vehicle safety, some things that you need to do NOW include:

Further information about all the programs USFA has to help you in emergency vehicle safety may be found on this page of the USFA Web site.

USFA was proud to work with the IAFC, IAFF, NVFC, and others in the development of programs to enhance emergency vehicle safety. Now it is up to you to use them. Remember - a firefighter that does not get to the scene safely helps no one.

Links of Interest

Email this pageEmail this page to a friend or colleague...

RSS Feed Would you like to receive press releases and other important notices as soon as they are available from USFA? With our RSS feed, you can. More Information »