One of my biggest pet peeves in the fire service is firefighters who don't wear their seat belts. It absolutely drives me crazy when someone fails to take the time to buckle up. It takes 10 seconds to reach over and put your seat belt on. People come up with every excuse in the book but none of them justify not buckling up.
Over the past 30 years, vehicle-related crashes have been the 2nd leading cause of firefighter deaths. The NFPA found that many of the LODDs caused by motor vehicle accidents could have been prevented. Of the 406 deaths that occurred due to motor vehicle accidents, 76% were known to NOT be wearing their seat belts. That means 308 of those deaths possibly could have been prevented if the victim had taken time to buckle their seat belt. Another contributing factor in many of those deaths were excessive speed. If they would have taken the time to buckle their seat belt and drive a little slower they could very possibly be alive right now!! I know seat belts won't prevent 100% deaths from vehicle accidents but if it can reduce the number by half isn't that a good thing? As the years go by, we get better technology, we see all of these NIOSH reports pointing out the contributing factors yet we still drive to fast and we don't wear our seat belts... it is literally insanity.
Sadly, too many firefighters think they are invincible or are naive enough to think "it won't happen to me." Unfortunately we are not invincible and we are not omniscient. We can't predict the future so we don't know if it will happen to us or not. Since we can't predict the future, we need to prepare for the worst case scenario every time.... that means we put our seat belt on EVERY TIME the rig rolls out the door. If you are a company officer it is YOUR responsibility to ensure your crew is buckled up every time out. Heck, all of the new trucks out their have buzzers that go off if the seat belt isn't buckled. Sure there are ways to circumvent the system but if you set the expectation that seat belts will be worn at all times and enforce that expectation then your crew will buckle up every time.
So why don't firefighters wear their seat belts? I have heard all the excuses, but honestly, none of them pass the smell test in my eyes. You can't get dressed with your seat belt on? Then get dressed before you get on the truck. Seriously it should take you less than 60 seconds to get your gear on. You can't get your air pack on with your seat belt on? That's BS too, your seat belt is mounted in the back of your seat and the seat belt does not interfere with you sliding your arms through the straps. If you can't figure out how to get your pack on, then maybe you should practice that so you know that you can do it. The seat belt slows you down in getting out of the truck? Really!?! It takes 10 seconds to unbuckle your seat belt and get out of the truck. If you have problems and are always getting tangled up in your seat belt then you need to practice. None of these excuses are worth risking your life for. Frankly, the people that don't wear their seat belts are either lazy or just plain ignorant.
If your department doesn't have a seat belt policy then I encourage you to press your chief to get a policy in place. We need to make sure we are doing everything we can to prevent unnecessary injuries or deaths. Again, if you are a company officer, make sure your crews are wearing their seat belts. If you are a firefighter, ensure your own safety and call out the guys who don't wear their seat belts. The culture has to change. I had a situation as a company officer where we were heading back to the station after training. We only had to travel 3 or 4 blocks to get back to the station. I noticed one of my senior guys didn't buckle up when he got in the truck. I waited a few minutes to see if he would buckle up or not. Sure enough, no seat belt. The engineer released the air brakes and went to put the truck in gear. At that moment I told him to stop the truck and set the brakes. I then proceeding to tell the entire crew that this truck was not going to move until everyone was buckled up. Begrudgingly, the crew buckled up. I made it a point to make an example of the guy. I had a couple of rookies in the truck as well and wanted to make sure they knew it was not acceptable to not wear their seat belts. The whole situation pissed off the senior guy but I got my point across. As a company officer, I am not in the business of being your friend when safety is involved. Its my job to make sure you go home safe so I am going to do everything in my power to make sure that happens. If I upset a few people along the way.... so be it. As long as I am doing the right thing then I am okay with that.
In this day in age, there is no excuse to not wear your seat belt. We have the ability to look back at previous accidents and LODDs and learn from them. We know that seat belts can prevent injuries and deaths in the event of a motor vehicle collision so we need to learn from that. We need to honor those who died and learn from their mistakes. Don't let them die in vain. Oh yeah, one other thing IT'S THE LAW, SO WEAR YOUR SEAT BELT!!!!
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