After spending the last week working at the fire department, I spent the last two days at home with my family doing some yard work and landscaping. The weather was great and could not have asked for better days. My son, who is 18 months, is so much fun, he loves being outside and has started looking for birds!
Over the past few years the second leading cause of firefighter deaths continues to be apparatus crashes. I receive texts on a daily basis of firefighter news stories and the last couple days there were more apparatus crashes. One of them was in Illinois. As I look back over my fire and EMS career, both volunteer and paid, I remember myself being careless while responding to emergencies. I have never been involved in an apparatus crash while driving but have been as a passenger. Emergency responders tend to get excited and want to get to the scene as fast as they can. They want to be the first one there, got to be on the attack line making entry into the house that is on fire. All of these reasons are ones that I personally experienced. Responders tend to have tunnel vision and only think about getting there. We all need to be more cautious, we need to slow down, follow traffic laws and arrive safely. If you look online at any of the stories on apparatus crashes you will find that the main cause is speed. If you take into play the way the newer houses are built, we should not be making entry by the time we get on scene. The construction just does not hold up like it used to in the old days. So there is no need to drive crazy, slow down, the fire will still be there when you get there. How much time do we honestly save by driving fast and carelessly? If we drive careless while responding to emergencies we are not able to provide our services to those in need. I strongly encourage each and every one of you to slow down, make it to the scene safe and help those who call us.