Pennsylvania: Tragedy Bonds PA Responders, Sparked Changes
West Hills Regional fire Chief Donald Blasko Sr. said much has changed since March 2, 2015.That was the day West End Ambulance Service paramedic Janice Keen Livingston was struck and killed by a truck while responding to a string of vehicle crashes in icy conditions on Route 271 in Upper Yoder Township. Blasko, foreman for the Westmont Public Works Department, was monitoring the radio when his crew was dispatched to the scene.
"I was working my job with public works that morning when I heard the call go out, and our guys dispatched," he said in an interview at the Luzerne Street fire hall.
"I was listening to bits and pieces of the radio traffic," Blasko said. "I knew something bad had happened, but I didn't know who."
Blasko said he began working the phones to find out if everyone was safe. He was told someone was killed at the scene. It was Livingston. The 38-year-old mother of two young girls had just been hired by West Hills as a part-time paramedic.
"I was stunned," Blasko said, pausing to collect his emotions.
"She was one of us," he said.
"A good person and a good medic. She had probably only put in five shifts before the accident happened."
Her death has "absolutely" changed the way the department responds, he said.
Now authorities are more earnest in their effort to keep first responders safe, he said.
"When there's a vehicle accident, the first thing we do is start blocking roads," Blasko said.
"Making sure we control the traffic and see if there are any other types of hazards like downed power lines.
"There's a lot more things you start looking for," he said. "You begin seeing how precious life is. In the blink of an eye, a life could be gone."
Blasko has been chief of West Hills Regional since the Westmont and Browns-town fire departments merged 10 years ago. Ferndale has since become part of the regional fire department.
He has been in the fire service since age 14 when he became a junior firefighter while growing up in Brownstown. Blasko is married and is the father of three sons.
The bond is strong between first responders -- a brotherhood and sisterhood, he said.
"It's the same for everyone in the fire service or EMS," Blasko said. "If there's an issue that goes down with one person, it affects everyone."
Like most volunteer departments, West Hills needs more volunteers. Not everyone choses to battle fires.
Some control traffic, others assist crews at the scene, and some help with much-needed fundraisers.
Either way, Blasko said there's a job for everyone in a department that responds to 350 to 400 calls a year.
"This year we've had the most active working fire in our coverage district," he said. "You have the same guys raising money and fighting fires.
"Just to have someone in and help with fundraising would take a load off everyone's mind," Blasko said.
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