It was my privilege to represent Firehouse.com at an important legislative ceremony which was held in Delaware City, Del., on the morning of July 31. A bill- signing ceremony was held for an important new piece of legislation for the emergency service in the First State. The bill was created to address a loophole in the existing laws regarding paramedics and emergency medical service people who are struck, injured, and killed on the highways of the First State.
There is an important reason behind this particular piece of legislation. As is often the case, this law came about as a result of tragedy. It took the loss of a young, single mother to stimulate the actions which led to this new law.
Michelle Smith was an active member of the Delaware City Fire Department. She initially joined the Middletown Fire Department back in 1996. In May of 2003, she moved her membership to the Delaware City unit. Back on December 20, 2008, she was part of a duty crew which responded to a motorcycle accident on U.S. Highway 13 in New Castle. Her ambulance crew was part of a cover assignment for a neighboring community which was holding their annual banquet.
While operating at this incident, Michelle was struck by a car driven by a paraplegic driver who was operating that vehicle while using a stick to operate the brake and accelerator. It should also be noted that he was operating on a suspended license and convicted of a similar driving offence in Maryland. She was transported to the Christiana Medical Center where she died of her injuries two days later.
It was in the midst of their investigation into this incident that the police reviewed the applicable traffic laws in order to charge the individual responsible for her death. They were shocked to discover a glaring omission in the law. Since she was operating as an EMT, the law did not allow for the most severe charges to be lodged in her death. This angered a great many people and efforts begin in short order to address this lapse in the law.
The Delaware fire community kicked into gear to get this oversight corrected. In a short period of time, by government operating standards, this legal oversight was corrected. House Bill 204 was passed in both the Delaware House and Senate back in June. The new law, "... amends Title 11, relating to the crime of Murder in the First Degree and adds paramedics, emergency medical technicians, fire marshals, fire police officers into the Title. The bill will be known as the 'Michelle Smith Law' in honor of the sacrifice she made back in 2008."
It was my privilege to be in Delaware City to witness the official billing signing by Governor Jack Markell. The sponsor of the bill was Representative Earl G. Jaques, Jr., from Newark. There were members of both houses and political parties in attendance. The Governor stated that this was, "...not a partisan issue. Both parties were behind it."
I should point out that this ceremony was broadcast on the Fox 29 news channel in Philadelphia. They have a weekly feature on the fire service. The visit area fire stations and tell the stories of the people providing this critical service to their communities. You too can view this ceremony by going to the station's website, which is located at http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/good_day_philadelphia/073109_Firehouse_Friday_Delaware_City.
One of the people with whom I spoke was Mike McMichael, of the Delaware City Fire Department. As it turns out, Michelle was Mike's EMS partner. He spoke of his love for her as a friend, as well of his feelings of loss and sadness because of this tragedy. "She was like a little sister to me," Mike said. "I shall miss her." Mike took me in to see her memorial locker, where her gear remains on duty in her memory. I was moved to tears by his love for a lost partner.
You and I need to work hard to insure that our people are trained to operate out there on the highways of our nation. It is dangerous out there. You have to remember that the people zipping along the road. It is up to you to keep your people safe.
That is just one more way to commemorate the sacrifice of people like Michelle Smith.
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