In the first two weeks of 2020, seven roadway responders have been struck and killed by vehicles while assisting the public. Seven responders lost in fourteen days.
These losses end people’s lives, destroy families, destabilize departments, and threaten the safety of the motoring public. We cannot wait another day to make this a top priority for responders nationwide! We need to implement mitigation strategies, responder training, and public education that addresses the root causes of these struck-bys.
The Cumberland Valley Volunteer Firemen’s Association’s Emergency Responder Safety Institute (ERSI) produces ResponderSafety.com and the ResponderSafety Learning Network. They are the only organization that tracks struck-by fatalities of roadway responders from all emergency response disciplines. ERSI has released a report summarizing the forty-four struck-by fatalities of roadway responders in 2019, accompanied by a spreadsheet detailing the characteristics and circumstances of each event. Plus, ERSI has made its tracking of 2020 struck-by-vehicle deaths to date available to the public. You can get all this information right now at www.respondersafety.com/FatalityReports
Read the report and incident details to understand the context. Then, take action:
- Go to The ResponderSafety Learning Network at respondersafety.com to take free online training that will improve the safety of your roadway operations.
- Visit respondersafety.com/PIO to download public education resources you can use to teach members of your community how to safely pass emergency scenes on the roadway.
ResponderSafety.com extends its heartfelt condolences to the families and departments who have experienced a struck-by incident.
Be safe,
The ResponderSafety.com Team