Career Fire Fighter/Emergency Medical Technician Dies from Injuries Sustained in Fall from Apparatus – California

Details

• Personal Author:
  Lutz, Virginia ; Berardinelli, Stephen P. Jr.
• 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 January 13, 2003, a 46-year-old female career fire fighter/emergency medical technician (EMT) the victim died from injuries she received after falling from a moving, open-cab engine. The engine was responding to a reported airport emergency with an officer and a fire fighter/driver in the cab, a fire fighter/paramedic and a fire fighter/EMT (victim) seated in the open-cab jump seats. While enroute, as the engine was rounding a bend and accelerating up a slight grade to enter a highway, the victim lost her balance and fell from the apparatus onto the road. The victim was treated at the scene for multiple traumatic injuries and transported to a local hospital. She died from her injuries five days after the incident. NIOSH investigators concluded that, to minimize the risk of similar occurrences, fire departments should: 1) ensure that all persons responding in emergency apparatus are wearing and secured by seat belts or safety restraints at all times the vehicle is in motion ; 2) ensure that all persons responding in emergency apparatus are wearing and secured by seat belts or safety restraints at all times the vehicle is in motion ; 3) ensure, when feasible, that each crew riding position is within a fully enclosed personnel area. Although there is no direct evidence that the following directly contributed to the fatality, this recommendation is being provided as a reminder of good safety practice. NIOSH investigators concluded that as a matter of prudent safety operations fire departments should ; 4) ensure equipment that is required to be used during emergency response is securely fastened and readily accessible.
• Subjects:
  • Accident Prevention
  • Accidents
  • Accidents, Occupational
  • Emergencies
  • Emergency Responders
  • Firefighters
  • Fires
  • Occupational Exposure
  • Occupational Health
  • Safety
  More +
• Keywords:
  • OSHA Region 9
  • Accident-prevention
  • Accidents
  • Emergency-responders
  • Emergency-response
  • Fire-fighters
  • Fire-protection-equipment
  • Injuries
  • Injury-prevention
  • Occupational-hazards
  More +
• FACE - Firefighter:
  Cause of Death: Trauma ; Motor Vehicle: Emergency Vehicle ; Motor Vehicle: Miscellaneous
• Series:
  Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (FFFIPP)
• Subseries:
  Death in the Line of Duty Report
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHFFFACEF200307
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study ; Report
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 9
• 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:
  1-8
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20024557
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2004-104354
• 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 F2003-07, 2004 Mar ; :1-8
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2004
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  92 - Public Administration - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  2003/01/13
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/163779/cdc_163779_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 651.96 KB]
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:04c6e5ed56524943d8b8b835099877c93effddcaf55e2f58f394157bde24000b7b8045fde5adfa4ccced38aabc937a3b6ddcb10dc33fe09446d76676fa739f14