Emergency Responder Safety On Rural Roads

Prepared for Rural Road Safety Awareness Week July 15-19, 2024 in cooperation with the National Center for Rural Road Safety and Road to Zero/National Safety Council

ResponderSafety.com and The Responder Safety Learning Network (RSLN) promote recommended responder safety and traffic incident management practices that improve the safety of emergency responders when they are working scenes on the roadway or traversing the roadway to access a scene. We understand and affirm that operations on rural roads have particular characteristics and challenges that the interstate highway context does not. We have prepared resources to teach safety practices that apply to all roadways, guidance for how to adapt these to the rural roads context when the situation requires it, and information specific to rural roads.

For Rural Road Safety Awareness Week July 15-19, 2024, the overall theme is “Life Between the Lines” and the focus is on preventing rural roadway departure crashes. Use #RRSAW2024 in your social media posts. Visit the official page for more information.

Each weekday of the campaign has a separate but related topic. Below we suggest ResponderSafety.com training materials to use in conjunction with that day’s theme. Also available below the daily topic list is a rural roads training topic plan for different roles in the department.

Monday 7/15: Overview of Rural RwD

Tuesday 7/16: Speed

Wednesday 7/17: Sharp Curves

Thursday 7/18: Weather/Road Conditions

Friday, 7/19: Driving Behaviors

TOPIC PLAN: Rural Roads

Suggested activities for each role in your department to place the focus on emergency responder safety and traffic incident management at roadway incidents, as well as the specific needs in the rural roads environment.

Leadership:

Fire Officers:

  • Take the Responder Safety Learning Network module, "Roadway Incident Safety Training Guidance for Fire Officers." Encourage your crews to do the same.
  • Take the Responder Safety Learning Network module, "Traffic Incident Management on Rural Roads." Encourage your crews to do the same.
  • Play the Roadway Safety Shorts videos for your crew(s) and discuss how you will apply these recommended practices to incidents on rural roads.
  • Earn the National TIM Training Certificate. Encourage your crews to earn it as well.
  • Earn the Certified Traffic Incident Management Person credential. In the fall of 2020, the Fire Department Safety Officers Association will start offering this new credential that is third party accredited by The Pro Board to the NFPA 1091 standard. Responder Safety has written a comprehensive study guide to help personnel prepare for the certification exam. Visit fdsoa.org for more information on the certification. Encourage your crews to earn the certification as well.

Training Officers and Instructors:

  • Watch the Responder Safety Learning Network program, "Traffic Incident Management: Training & Resources."
  • Take the Responder Safety Learning Network module, "Traffic Incident Management for Rural Roads." Encourage your students to do the same, or even work it into classwork or homework as an assignment.
  • Teach a lesson from the ResponderSafety.com Roadway Safety Teaching Topic Packages, which provide an overview of all the major components of integrating roadway safety and traffic control into department operations. During your presentation and class discussion, consider how to apply the concepts taught in the lesson to incidents on rural roads. The lesson plans are available here.
  • Discuss a case study from the NIOSH Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program reports where traffic incident management was a contributing factor. Check the contributing factors list for traffic control factors. Another resource for roadway LODD case studies is ResponderSafety.com's interactive map of struck-by line-of-duty deaths.
  • Earn the National TIM Training Certificate and complete the module "Traffic Incident Management on Rural Roads." Encourage your crews to earn it as well.
  • Earn the Certified Traffic Incident Management Person credential. In the fall of 2020, the Fire Department Safety Officers Association will start offering this new credential that is third party accredited by The Pro Board to the NFPA 1091 standard. Responder Safety has written a comprehensive study guide to help personnel prepare for the certification exam. Visit fdsoa.org for more information on the certification. Encourage your crews to earn the certification as well.
  • Select a Topic Plan from the Safety Stand Down list on ResponderSafety.com and pick an activity to do from the suggested ones for your role or another role.

Safety Officers:

  • Take the Responder Safety Learning Network module, "The Safety Officer’s Role in Roadway Incident Response"
  • Take the Responder Safety Learning Network module, "Traffic Incident Management on Rural Roads." Encourage your crews to do the same, or even work it into a training rotation or assignment.
  • Earn the National TIM Training Certificate and complete the module "Traffic Incident Management for Rural Roads." Encourage your crews to earn it as well.
  • Earn the Certified Traffic Incident Management Person credential. In the fall of 2020, the Fire Department Safety Officers Association will start offering this new credential that is third party accredited by The Pro Board to the NFPA 1091 standard. Responder Safety has written a comprehensive study guide to help personnel prepare for the certification exam. Visit fdsoa.org for more information on the certification. Encourage your crews to earn the certification as well.
  • Review the Roadway Safety Short "How to Safely Pass an Emergency Scene" during a safety break, roll call, or shift change to reinforce how important traffic control is to signaling motorists what to do when approaching a roadway incident scene.
  • Play the Roadway Safety Shorts videos for your crew(s) and discuss how you will apply these recommended practices to incidents on rural roads.
  • Select a Topic Plan from the Safety Stand Down list on ResponderSafety.com and pick an activity to do from the suggested ones for your role or another role.

PIOs and Public Educators:

Frontline Responders:

Training Challenge ResponderSafety.com and the Responder Safety Learning Network encourage you to challenge your personnel to train on roadway safety practices and adopt a safety mindset when operating on the roadway by requiring or recommending to your personnel that they complete the National TIM Training Certificate from the Responder Safety Learning Network. Set a participation goal and reward if the goal is met. Personnel can prove they completed the certificate by printing and showing the National TIM Training Certificate to their supervisor or commanding officer.

More Resources You will find dozens of additional resources to help you train and improve the safety of your personnel when responding to incidents on the roadway, including vehicle fires, crashes, medical emergencies, natural disasters, and large scale responses like mass casualties and violent incidents. Here are the main categories of resources available to you. All resources are free.

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