It begins and should be treated in the front seat, and it can end with the chiefs in the front office. What am I talking about? Disregard for safety rules and procedures.

We've all heard the excuses: No one is listening; the rules don't apply to everyone; the chief won't back me up; it's not worth fighting with these firefighters; the firefighters won't like me. But can any of these reasons excuse a tragedy?

We were driving back from Atlanta last year and stopped in Tennessee for lunch. As we got out of the car, we heard the sounds of a mechanical siren with air horns that were calling us as the rig rolled down the block. So — like we are required to do — we stopped and watched the apparatus pass.

We froze in disbelief. As the apparatus sped by, we saw a firefighter standing up, facing forward (open jump seat rig), hanging over the sides and looking over the roof — no gear, no helmet, just enjoying that ride.

We felt like we had gone back in time.

Not the good ol' days

This is the kind of stuff that makes me nuts. Unless newspapers, television, fire magazines and the Internet haven't yet made it to these areas of the country, something is wrong. Now, don't get me wrong; for years we rode the tail-board, too. Then one day, some slick attorney in Massachusetts took a lawsuit in which a firefighter was seriously injured and disabled because he fell out of the apparatus while riding in the same manner. That lawsuit put an apparatus manufacturer out of business.

More recently, within 30 days of each other, two firefighters from opposite ends of the country were run over and killed by their own apparatus while it was backing up. Down south a firefighter was seriously burned and another was engulfed in flames during a training burn down. And then at that same East Coast department as the first incident, another firefighter was killed in the same exact manner — the same department.

Not long ago a firefighter in San Francisco was killed when she fell out of her apparatus. A newspaper article stated “out of respect for the family, the actual cause of her death will not be made public.” I may be missing something, but it doesn't take a genius to figure out that she probably didn't have her seatbelt on while riding in a side-open cab and she fell out.

Predictable? Preventable? Without a doubt. We were absolutely saddened by her loss, as we are anytime we lose one of our own, but we are even sadder when it's very avoidable.

I get even more annoyed when a fire department doesn't go out of its way to share the information behind such a tragedy with others. Who knows, maybe our brother in Tennessee might have read the article and sat down to think about it for a while. Even better, maybe the Chattanooga and the San Francisco officers riding in the front seat would have made sure that their crews were safe before arriving at the fire scene.

What's one of the best ways to ensure that “everyone goes home”? Have a good, disciplined and trained company officer who is not afraid to enforce the law — and a chief who isn't afraid to back that officer up. It's called empowerment.

Chief's right hand

A chief can have as many policies and procedures as he or she wants, but if they aren't trained on, reinforced and then enforced by the “law enforcement officer” in the front seat of the apparatus, they mean nothing. You may actually be better off without SOPs than having them ignored.

If the policy says that the apparatus won't budge until the officer confirms all members are belted, then the responsibility falls to the officer to enforce that law or risk serious corrective action, including losing their job. Maybe that's what it takes. If a fire department is that serious about the seatbelt issue, maybe the rules should read:

“All members shall, at all times, wear seat belts any time a fire department vehicle of any kind may be moving. Any member found not wearing a seat belt will be immediately suspended for 30 days and the officer of the apparatus shall be charged with failure to supervise. In the case of a career paid member, the member shall be suspended for three paid shifts and the officer of the apparatus shall be charged with failure to supervise. If the event reoccurs involving the same individual(s), the member shall be terminated and the officer shall face demotion charges for failure to supervise.”

That kind of policy would make it pretty clear to any firefighter that the department — meaning the chief — is very serious about the safety polices and procedures and the desire for no one to die in that manner. If the policy is clear up front, it's fair. Maybe that's what it takes. Maybe determining that the department's “Class A” offenses — the ones that clearly affect the reduction of firefighter death and serious injury — could cost you your job is the answer. That's how it ends in the front office: career ending as determined by the chief's office.

If you think no one is listening, keep the firefighter survival message in the members' faces every day, in every possible way so it becomes a way of life in your department.

If you think the rules don't apply to everyone, the front office needs to make sure that everyone is treated equally, or you might as well throw it all out the window and just go feed your fish.

If you think it's not worth fighting with the firefighters over this, yes it is. If you can't decide when to enforce the law, don't be an officer. Not everyone can be because at times, or even many times, you will have to draw the line and enforce the law.

If you're afraid the firefighters won't like you, get over it. If you are looking for and are in sincere need of love, buy a puppy. But true brother- and sisterhood means taking care of each other. This is the most basic form of that.

Chiefs, back your officers who enforce the rules. Set the tone of what is and what isn't acceptable, and then back the firefighters and officers trying to represent you and keep you out of a jam.

Every once in a while in our business, we may have a chance to dramatically save the life of someone at a fire, but those events are rare. However, by getting serious about everyone coming home at your department, you will be saving both the lives of your firefighters and the civilians you serve, in a silent but no less heroic manner. Empower every member of your fire department to join in the heroics of everyone coming home by never letting them stop hearing and seeing the message.

---

William Goldfeder, EFO., is a battalion chief with the Loveland-Symmes Fire Department in Ohio, and is a member of the IAFC'S Health & Safety Section. He is a co-host of the Web site www.FirefighterCloseCalls.com.