Incidents this past week was another reminder about just how dangerous the emergency services profession is.
Two Mississippi EMS personnel were killed in a fiery crash with a tractor-trailer.
They were headed to a medical call, and while passing a tractor-trailer, it turned left. Upon impact, both vehicles caught fire.
Meanwhile, a training exercise at Oakland International Airport took a serious turn when an ARFF flipped onto its side leaving the operator seriously injured.
Mitchell Ow, 55, a 28-year fire department veteran, was breathing on his own. However, he has a long road to recovery.
In Kentucky, a civilian was killed when his vehicle and an ambulance collided. The medics were pinned for about a half hour before firefighters could extricate them.
The crew was en route to a medical call when the crash occurred.
In Pennsylvania, a work detail at a firehouse turned into an incident when a tower ladder malfunctioned. Three firefighters were injured.
One firefighter from Wattsburg and two from Belle Valley were transported for treatment of back, shoulder and knee injuries.
Firefighters told local reporters a cable snapped and the ladder did a "rapid descent" about 50 feet before it stopped.
In an unrelated issue, NTSB investigators were highly critical of the way San Francisco firefighters handled the Asiana aircraft crash.
They said the crews lacked proper training, and violated protocols as no one actually bent down to check to see if a teen was alive. The girl they left on the tarmac was run over by two fire apparatus and killed.
Also this week, Reno firefighters don’t have to worry about losing their jobs if they show up under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol.
Under a policy agreed to by the IAFF and the fire chief, personnel with an alcohol level under .08 won’t face disciplinary proceedings. The threshold for being under the influence of drugs is even higher.
Across the country, however, the use of alcohol on the job has tarnished the careers of two captains.
One Florida captain, cited for intoxication, resigned and another was fired, accused of not handling the incident.
Now, the flames they are fighting are in the department as both have decided they want their jobs back.
