Md. Department Looking at Apparatus Accidents

Nov. 13, 2015
Montgomery County fire vehicles were involved in over 200 accidents last year.

Montgomery County fire officials are looking to reduce emergency vehicle accidents by increasing training. Last year, the department reported 241 crashes involving fire-rescue units. 

“It’s a nationwide problem,” Vincent Brannigan, emeritus professor of fire protection engineering at the University of Maryland told The Washington Post. “You’ve got a patient in back of an ambulance, and the instinct to go like hell is enormous.”

The article examines a crash between a Montgomery County pumper and ambulance last year.

The ambulance had stopped at a red light, and as it proceeded through. 

“I said, ‘This is going to hurt,’ ” Firefighter Robert Sito later told investigators after he noticed a pumper heading toward the intersection. The pumper was travelling over 40 mph.

The force of the crash knocked Michael Matteo, who was driving the ambulance, unconscious. Three firefighters ended up going to the hospital.

The former chief, Steve Lohr, wrote in a memo that the department was “rapidly heading towards a more tragic accident that will likely be fatal.” He set up a committee to review accident investigations.

Read the full story here.

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