As Firehouse Sees It: Keep Your Head on a Swivel

A key component of the brotherhood and sisterhood shared by firefighters is keeping an eye on each other and assessing your colleague’s well-being. It went from watching each other’s backs on the fireground to discussions about life at home and their mental health.

This year, firefighters have been shot, stabbed and assaulted while responding to emergency calls and that should serve as a reminder that each firefighter keep their head on a swivel from the time they roll out the door until they are back in the station. Unfortunately, acts of violence are not new against firefighters and it appears they are becoming more frequent during the same time members of the law enforcement community are becoming direct targets of violence.

Last month, while we were at Firehouse Expo, we learned that two Jacksonville, FL, firefighters were stabbed while transporting a patient to the hospital following a call for back pain. Initial media reports indicated the man became agitated over communications shared on the radio, grabbed a firefighter’s knife and slashed him, collapsing a lung. The firefighter driving the ambulance was also slashed when he stopped the vehicle to intervene.

Appleton, WI, Firefighter Mitchell Lundgaard was shot and killed after responding to a report of a man having a seizure on a bus in May. Firefighters administered Narcan to the man and after he came around, he exited the bus and began walking away before opening fire with a handgun he was carrying, fatally striking Lundgaard. A police officer and bystander were also struck.

A Green Bay, WI, lieutenant spotted a man standing/walking around a busy intersection and tried to help the man get out of traffic. The man became agitated and fought with the lieutenant, delivering a punch to the fire officer’s head.

In September, Detroit firefighters and medics were rendering aid to a heart attack patient when a man entered the home and fatally stabbed a woman in another room.

Earlier this year, after Detroit firefighters pronounced a cardiac arrest person deceased, a family member chased a firefighter from the house and assaulted them.

In the last few years, a Dallas firefighter was shot while checking on a shooting victim and a Houston captain was stabbed in the eye while searching for fire extension during a structure fire. A Prince George’s County, MD, firefighter was shot and killed after a man came out of a diabetic episode and fired at two firefighters. A San Diego firefighter was stabbed with a machete after his crew was called out for an intoxicated male on the street.

In an article for Firehouse (firehouse.com/21009398), Jason Gallimore said firefighters and EMS crews are often so focused on providing patient care that they may not see the warning signs of impending danger around them. In his article, Gallimore shares a number of physical and verbal signs that can indicate threats towards emergency crews.

If your department has not already started conversations with your counterparts in law enforcement, now is the time. Agencies need to coordinate their efforts to ensure law officers are dispatched to certain types of calls, including welfare checks, acts of violence, and the “unknown” incidents. This pre-planning of resource deployment can create a better working relationship between fire and law responders in an effort to create a safer working environment.

Many police departments have limited resources to send, so communication and collaboration are key. Dispatchers play a critical role here, too, and can keep their heads on a swivel as additional resources may be required based on previous incidents at the address, or notes stored in the computer.

If a two-person ambulance crew is dispatched to a welfare check and police officers are not available, dispatchers can send an engine or ladder crew to serve as lookouts for any signs of trouble. Someone can stay outside to observe the entrance and another responder can watch the hallway to ensure the safety of the crew working with the patient.