Volunteer Fire Fighter Killed After his Privately Owned Vehicle Hydroplaned and Struck a Billboard Signpost – Kentucky

Details

• Personal Author:
  Frederick, Linda J.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (FFFIPP)
• Description:
  Death in the Line of Duty…a Summary of a NIOSH Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation
  
  On June 16, 2003, a 30-year-old male volunteer fire fighter was fatally injured after his privately owned vehicle (POV) hydroplaned and struck a billboard signpost. At 1830 hours, during a heavy rainstorm, the fire department was dispatched to a high-water emergency. The victim was responding in his POV to the Fire Department to pick up a fire apparatus when the incident occurred. The victim was heading east on a two-lane paved road when, according to the State Police report, he drove over a large pool of water which caused him to hydroplane and lose control. He traveled off the westbound shoulder of the road and struck a billboard signpost. A civilian motorist, whom the victim had passed about one mile before, came upon the crash scene and called 911. At approximately 1832 hours, the volunteer fire department was dispatched to this motor vehicle crash. Within approximately 6 minutes, the victim was extricated. He was given advanced life support and transported via ambulance to a regional trauma center approximately 30 miles away. He was pronounced dead at the hospital at 1940 hours. NIOSH concludes that, in order to minimize the risk of similar occurrences, fire departments should: 1) encourage drivers to drive at speeds appropriate for the conditions to prevent hydroplaning and loss of vehicle control
  
  2) encourage personnel to wear seat belts when responding to emergencies in their POVs.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Automobiles Emergency Responders Firefighters Occupational Health Safety Safety Management Staff Development
• Keywords:
  Accident-prevention Emergency-responders Fire-fighters Injuries Injury-prevention Motor-vehicles Occupational-safety-programs OSHA Region 4 Safety-belts Safety-education Safety-measures Safety-monitoring Training Traumatic-injuries

  More +
• FACE - Firefighter:
  Cause of Death: Trauma ; Motor Vehicle: Privately Owned Vehicle
• Series:
  Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (FFFIPP)
• Subseries:
  Death in the Line of Duty Report
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHFFFACEF200319
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study ; Report
• Place as Subject:
  Kentucky ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSR - Division of Safety Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20024555
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2004-104355
• Citation:
  Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, FACE F2003-19, 2004 Feb ; :1-4
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2004
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  92 - Public Administration - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  2003/06/16
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a937f65648e0b142dc020aeca90037ec219c6a2e19095f857306409c27fe3b59341d05d53912bf6232ddb987cf0462db768fd85623414b546e75afbdd8ac5513
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/163781/cdc_163781_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 221.22 KB ]