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 Safety Management

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• Keywords:
  Accident-prevention Emergency-responders Emergency-response Fire-fighters Fire-protection-equipment Injuries Injury-prevention Occupational-hazards Occupational-safety-programs OSHA Region 9 Safety-belts Safety-education Safety-equipment Safety-measures Safety-practices Safety-programs Traumatic-injuries

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• 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
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• 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
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:04c6e5ed56524943d8b8b835099877c93effddcaf55e2f58f394157bde24000b7b8045fde5adfa4ccced38aabc937a3b6ddcb10dc33fe09446d76676fa739f14
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/163779/cdc_163779_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 651.96 KB ]