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Life Changes In A Split Second
From Firehouse Zen:
The other day I think we all were thinking about the death of the child struck by a Kansas City engine as reported by Firehouse.com. As you have probably heard thousands of times before, it doesn’t take too many incidents like this one to remind you that we have a huge responsibility while driving our apparatus, and even when all things are going right and being done well, all it takes is someone not paying attention or distracted to get in our way and change everything.
Having a child at that age, I have preached to her about going into the street ad nauseum, but you know, kids sometimes just don’t remember that kind of stuff when they are excited or paying attention to that ball, or whatever the circumstances happen to be.
We need to be hypervigilant when it comes to operating these trucks; anticipating what is going to happen is much preferable to having to react to it unexpectedly if it does. When you see children playing nearby, don’t just drive by and wave- think about what you would do in the event one darted out into the street. Let off the accelerator and cover your brake, or at least look for evasive action options in case. It seems ridiculous that we have to be so defensive, but on the other hand, these guys in KC will probably be second guessing their actions forever, even if they had nothing to do with the way things worked out.
Be alert to your surroundings, buckle up, and let’s all go home in the morning.
The other day I think we all were thinking about the death of the child struck by a Kansas City engine as reported by Firehouse.com. As you have probably heard thousands of times before, it doesn’t take too many incidents like this one to remind you that we have a huge responsibility while driving our apparatus, and even when all things are going right and being done well, all it takes is someone not paying attention or distracted to get in our way and change everything.
Having a child at that age, I have preached to her about going into the street ad nauseum, but you know, kids sometimes just don’t remember that kind of stuff when they are excited or paying attention to that ball, or whatever the circumstances happen to be.
We need to be hypervigilant when it comes to operating these trucks; anticipating what is going to happen is much preferable to having to react to it unexpectedly if it does. When you see children playing nearby, don’t just drive by and wave- think about what you would do in the event one darted out into the street. Let off the accelerator and cover your brake, or at least look for evasive action options in case. It seems ridiculous that we have to be so defensive, but on the other hand, these guys in KC will probably be second guessing their actions forever, even if they had nothing to do with the way things worked out.
Be alert to your surroundings, buckle up, and let’s all go home in the morning.
Add a Comment
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Comment by Art "ChiefReason" Goodrich on March 10, 2009 at 12:55pm
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Mick:
Thanks for the reminder.
It is sad to read about these tragic events.
Mark:
Mick didn't second guess or place blame anywhere in his blog.
However; I disagree with your assertion that an incident such as this has no rational explanation.
There should be a thorough examination of what happened and lessons learned applied. None of that has to get into the way of the grieving process of those involved or for those who are troubled emotionally by the event. Investigations into accidents have to be done so that the causes can be identified and corrected.
Something went wrong. We need to find out what it was and get it corrected.
Otherwise, a child died for nothing and a crew will have to carry the questions of that day for the rest of their lives.
And that wouldn't be fair or moral.
My thoughts are with those involved in this tragic incident.
TCSS.
Art
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Comment by Oldman on March 9, 2009 at 6:36pm
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Every once in a while a post comes along where I don't try to play devils advocate. Good post Mick, you get no argument from me.
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Comment by Mick Mayers on March 9, 2009 at 11:05am
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Mark,
I'm sorry if you thought I was placing blame, because that was certainly not what I was after. I was actually trying to illustrate that no matter what we do sometimes, even if we are doing everything right, sometimes things go wrong. I don't have any facts other than what was presented in the articles. What I do want, however, is for drivers to not take their responsibility for granted (which we all do after years in the seat, including myself).
My prayers are with all of the parties involved and in the hope that they all can recover from this extraordinarily tragic event. Thanks for your comments.
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Comment by Scott on March 8, 2009 at 1:00pm
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Just the other day one of our apparatus was involved in a crash. Thankfully they were only going about 10mph at the time of impact. They had stopped for a red light intersection and waited for traffic to clear and stop. A driver apparently did not want to wait at the back of the lines of cars that stopped for the truck and went down the curb lane at high speed crossing just in time to be hit broad side. By the grace of god no injuries and minor damage to the apparatus. Car not so much. Now the part that really caught the attention of everyone on our dept was the driver that was in the truck at the time. He is the safest, most conservative and attentive driver I have ever worked with. He is the guy you want mentoring your new potential apparatus operators. It just shows that it can happen to anyone, anywhere at anytime. I'm not saying we should not be the safest we can at all times but sometimes we can do everything the absolutely right way and still get in a crash. Some times they are truly unavoidable. It is unfortunate. We can only control so much, you never know what others will or won't do.
It reminds me of a case in Baltimore a number of years ago. A guy committed suicide by jumping in front of an engine as it was responding to a fire. The also were not going very fast but human reactions are just so fast. Who would have ever guessed that someone would do that.
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Comment by Mark Klaene on March 7, 2009 at 10:55pm
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What a terrible loss. I am sure that driver and officer will suffer along with the family for a long time. We should avoid second guessing or placing fault here. lets get all the facts , but regardless of fault it is a terrible thing to have happened, too many lives have been changed for the worse--permanently. My condolences to the family and to my firefighting brothers that were involved. Not a one of us have joined this job to hurt a child, yet it happens.
Many will try and find an explanation for this tragic event , and try and make changes so it doesn't repeat, but perhaps there is no rational explanation !
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Comment by Ben Waller on March 7, 2009 at 8:57pm
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It's better to get to the scene at the speed limit than to get halfway there very fast.
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Comment by Kimberly A Bownas on March 7, 2009 at 6:39pm
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Mick you are so right and it is so important for us to watch all the time when we are responding to a call and coming back from a call. We also need to watch when we are in our POV's. It is a shame that this has happened and my thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the child that was hit and also to the firefighters that were driving the truck. They are impacted by this as well.
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