National Crash Responder Safety Week Nov. 18-22nd 2024

National Crash Responder Safety Week (CRSW) is fast approaching, and it is time to once again take a serious look at the topic of keeping ourselves, other responders, and the public safe at roadway incidents and crashes. It is time for us to recognize and remember the ultimate sacrifice that thirty-five responders have made just this year. The Fire/EMS discipline has recorded three struck-by LODD’s this year so far. We will reflect on and remember all of those from years past, and we will think of and discuss all of the thousands who have been seriously injured and survived. We will think of our own close calls and the struck-by incidents that hit closest to home for us. We will focus on training other responders how to best avoid the overwhelming odds and how our biggest enemy is the ‘D’ Drivers. And we will also continue to do the job. We will continue to respond to crashes and roadway incidents as the disciplines that routinely respond to save lives, reduce serious injury, and prevent secondary incidents. How is it that we train least on what we do the most? Annually, the US Fire Service responds to millions of calls for service with only four percent of these being responses to actual structure fires. Even with a much higher percentage of the total calls being responses to roadway incidents such as crashes, medical emergencies, and hazardous material incidents, why is the training for roadway incident responses seem to be seen as less important and conducted much less in comparison?

Make a pledge to do your part. Continue to operate safely at roadway incidents and assist others in being safer and smarter than ever before. CRSW is an annual event that brings together Fire/EMS, Law Enforcement, Towing & Recovery, Safety Service Patrol, and other transportation sectors to raise public awareness about safe driving near roadway incident scenes. This year’s theme, “Responders Ahead! Reduce Your Speed As You Proceed,” calls on drivers to slow down and stay alert to help protect emergency responders and other road users. Help spread the word and educate family, friends, and the public on the messaging focus for each day of the week. There are many free resources available to assist in getting this important message out. The links to the resources will be included at the end of this editorial.

There will be a live kickoff webinar sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) that all are welcome to join and will include an opportunity to e-sign a pledge to document the support and representation by your agency or organization.

Take the time and make an effort to prepare for this important annual event. Make it a point to train for roadway incident responses to better prepare yourself, your agency, and others for the challenges you will face. Stay safe and train like your life depends on it because on the roadway, it does.

National Crash Responder Safety Week November 18-22nd 2024

Engine 13 performing an initial Lane + 1 block on scene of an injury crash on I-40 in Nashville Tn. Photo Credit: TDOT Smartway
Engine 13 performing an initial Lane + 1 block on scene of an injury crash on I-40 in Nashville Tn. Photo Credit: TDOT Smartway

Resources:
Crash Responder Safety Week 2024: November 18-22 | National Operations Center of Excellence
Crash Responder Safety | Traffic Incident Management
CRSW Outreach Toolkit
National Kickoff Webinar: Crash Responder Safety Week 2024

About the author John M. Sullivan: John M. Sullivan is a former Highway Response Supervisor 1 with the TDOT 'HELP' Unit and served Nashville and Middle TN. since 1999. Mr. Sullivan is currently a full time Firefighter II/EMR with Ashland City (TN) FD and a Captain FF II/EMR with Pegram (TN) FD. John is a TIMs, EVOC, and Vehicle Extrication Instructor, HAZMAT Technician, and a Technical Committee Member for NFPA 1091 ‘Standard for Traffic Incident Management Personnel Professional Qualifications’. John has been married 25 years and he and his wife Teresa have two teenage daughters.

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