Reflective Vest will be required on Federal Hwy Incidents

[Just Plain Ruff]

LOL: except in New Hampshire, Still have no Seat Belt Law, only state in the Union, and therefore no Federal Highway Funds coming under that law already!!! Live Free [s:a17c27a701]or[/s:a17c27a701] And Die!

so how are the roads in New Hampshire? I'm thinking of making a drive up thru New England to look at the fall foliage later this fall so I'd like to know if I take a rental car or drive my own.

[saboats]

The Interstates are fine, the town roads are pretty well maintained. I ride my bike through the mountains during "leaf peeper season" every fall without much trouble!

[*Lifeguard*]

The employer has a legal Duty to ensure the occupational health and safety of Paramedics.

The greatest risk to emergency responders occurs during two phases of Traffic Management;

set-up and takedown. During the set-up phase, emergency vehicle staging and the placement

of equipment establishes an emergency traffic control zone. Until warning devices are in

position, approaching motorists may not be expecting to find emergency responders and their

equipment on the highway.

During the takedown phase, tasks are performed under non-emergency conditions, yet the

removal of equipment and personnel is just as critical as the set-up. The INCIDENT

COMMANDER should develop a plan for the re-establishment of normal traffic flow and

communicate that plan to all personnel working on the scene. Emergency vehicles should be

used to shield responders during the removal of equipment from the roadway. The Police

Service should remain on scene until all responders have departed.

The risks associated with working in moving traffic and the constantly changing emergency

scene environment can be reduced through awareness, training, teamwork and

communication. Each situation must be evaluated individually and an Incident Action Plan

made in order to perform each task as safely as possible.

[Just Plain Ruff]

but when it's your time to go it's your time to go, no matter how many lights, sirens, air horns and reflective vests you wear.

I wholeheartedly welcome the additional regulation of the vests but really it's a crapshoot out there. We can mitigate the risks as best we can but in the end, it's the hand of God or fate if you believe in that and if it's your time to go, then nothing you can do to keep your time from coming to fruition.

[Cookie]

Ours is on order, and being paid for by some funding via EMS here. I know they will help to some degree, so does the reflective stuff on the bunker gear the firefighters wear, but there are some crack pot drivers out there who cannot see those big red and white fire engines and red and white ambulances with their lights going, so how are they going to see people in relfective vests trying their best to stay alive?

That reminds me of an accident on the interstate where we had the highway shut down and some joker decided to pass on the shoulder of the hammer lane and drove into the arse end of an ambulance. His claim in court was that we were not visible enough! Three ambulances, three firetrucks, a sheriff's vehicle and two highway patrolmen and a helicopter and a line of traffic is was not visible enough to him, in daylight. Didn't fly with the judge either.

[Arizonaffcep]

Does the law state what type of ANSI class vest is needed? I've done some very minor research on this several years to get ANSI class III vests for the department, but they stated they were too expensive (which is funny now, because of an MVA w/HazMat and OSHA fines add infinitum...are in a severe world of hurt). I left the department before trouble brewed...kinda funny when they don't listen to the safety officer... Anyway, back on topic, there are several different classes of ANSI vests, ranging in length and "reflectiveness." Just curious...

[saboats]

minimum ANSI2 for Vests, and ANSI3 for outerwear if not wearing a vest....

[Richard B the EMT]

Just skimming the article, but does the reflective striping on my "Turnout/Bunker Gear" qualify, or will I have yet another item to carry with me?

PS, I have a vest that I use in my off duty stopping at roadside scenes. My doing that has already been discussed numerous times on other strings (USE THE SEARCH FUNCTION!).

[EMT Foose]

I must say that I'm none too pleased with the providing of safety equipment in my private employers operation. I'm glad to see this finally being mandated.

I've been trying for months to get a brush jacket, which is much more visible than anything else we have (save for the rain gear). Not to mention how many wildfires we work near...

We don't even have vests, and I'm considering buying one on my own.

[Arizonaffcep]

Just skimming the article, but does the reflective striping on my "Turnout/Bunker Gear" qualify, or will I have yet another item to carry with me?

PS, I have a vest that I use in my off duty stopping at roadside scenes. My doing that has already been discussed numerous times on other strings (USE THE SEARCH FUNCTION!).

From the research I did several years ago...the reflective striping on bunker gear doesn't even qualify now as "safety" reflective gear for working on the roadways.