“Who is going to hold you accountable if not the lawyers?” Brad Pinsky, attorney and fire chief, asked at the recent annual Fire Department Safety Officers Association’s Apparatus (FDSOA) Symposium in Scottsdale, AZ.
Pinsky’s presentation, “Legal Issues: Regarding Apparatus Design” offered a number of hard-hitting questions that prodded attendees and manufacturers alike to honestly consider how serious they were about safety in their department.
An attorney with over 20 years representing more than 500 fire departments and ambulance services throughout New York State, Pinsky also serves as fire chief of the Manlius Fire Department, a combination fire department in upstate New York.
In his presentation, Pinsky included numerous examples and statistics of fatalities and serious injuries that occur repeatedly in fire departments that are preventable and are often the result of ignoring signs or alerts of potential problems. He stated, “Learning about cancer and learning about firefighter suicide is not the same as taking action steps to reduce risk.”
Pinsky also admonished the audience by stating, “We celebrate tragedy in the fire service. Look at every hero award we give. We talk about the tragedies, but in celebrating it we glorify it and celebrate it. That’s not how it works in real life until you have lived through it.”
From arguments and statistics about fighting interior fires to decades of falling through floors to lightweight trusses to morbidly obese firefighters, Pinsky offered common sense answers to preventable injuries and fatalities. “The sad truth: safety is borne out of tragedy…we wait to learn from tragedy.”
Frequently, responders are going on calls only to find themselves to be the targets. Pinsky believes all EMS personnel, in particular, should be issued ballistic vests. Again, are we waiting to react to a tragedy he asked?
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Pinsky offered statistics from 2002 and 2004 forward of fire departments “killing their own” by backing over their spotters. He cited the famous case of firefighter Joe Tynan, who was unbuckled and fell from the vehicle exiting the station in 1982. Since that case, fire apparatus was dramatically redesigned to be safer.
Concluding his presentation on apparatus specifications and contracts, Pinsky emphasized when departments buy a vehicle, they should provide a contract as part of the bid specification.
“Vendors are most agreeable to satisfying the buyer at the time of bidding. Once the vendors have been deleted, the war over the contract begins," Pinsky said. "Here is a fact: the contracts for the purchase of apparatus never favor the buyer. Instead, include the purchase contract with the bid and require agreement to the exact terms of the contract without exception.”
Pinsky recommends using an attorney who knows how to draft these specific contract and include the terms needed, such as warranty protections, late fees, payment terms, inspection rights, and repair obligations.
“You will get only one shot at the perfect contract and this is the best time to get the vendor to agree to your terms,” Pinsky said. “I have been assisting clients with the bid process for over 20 years. Trust me, it works.”
Pinsky’s presentation is available on www.fdsoa.org “2018 Apparatus Symposium Presentations”.
