EMS vs Traffic Control

[Annie]

A friend of mine referred me to this article on a dispute between a firefighter and a police officer at the scene of an a traffic accident on a busy interstate with a patient trapped in a vehichle. The dispute centered around the placement of the fire truck at the scene. The truck was parked in such a way as to protect the responders at the scene, but also blocked an additional lane of traffic. I'm interested to hear what others think about this situation and how you would recommend EMS personell proceed if put in the situation of the firefighter.
heres the link to the whole story:
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty...

thanks,

Annie

[Annie]

I found an update at Jems.com: Firefighter awarded $17,500

here's that link: http://www.jems.com/news_and_articles/news/Jury_Awards_Damages_to_F...

[Rob]

Our first priority as responders is our safety. Jamie ends every episode reminding us of this, "Scene safety, BSI". I've never heard anybody, anywhere use the phrase , "Unimpeded traffic, BSI." This sounds like a case of a police officer who is used to getting things his way, that gets a little testy when he doesn't get his wishes. He arrested the Captain for "impedeing traffic." HELLO?!? THAT'S THE POINT. Impeded drivers slow down. In Oregon it is unlawful to interfere with an EMT or firefighter in performing their duties at an emergency, I would have pressed charges on the officer in return. The police officer is used to having to watch traffic at accident scenes, whereas we're used to not being able to watch traffic, we've got other things to do. (Not to say we don't stay aware, we just can't watch it.)

[Dean Harris]

Thats seriously messed up. Someone was on a power trip.

[Ace]

In our town in Connecticut we always take a lane for protection. About a year or two ago the town to the north Naugatuck had a car hit the Engine (the driver did not see the big red truck with all the lights?) we had a member struck 30 years prior. I’ll see if I can get a photo to post

[Jamie Davis, the Podmedic]

This is a rather common story and has a lot to do with how the National Incident Management System is set up. My Fire Chief ran into a similar problem a few years back with a state trooper who wanted us to open up U.S. Route 1 (a two lane road in our area) to traffic on one lane and the shoulder even though we were extricating a person from a vehicle very near the center line.

The Chief said no and was threatened with arrest. We have a pretty good relationship with local PD since our fire police are tasked to handle traffic control on accident scenes and our trucks and rescues are supposed to provide lighting support for police investigators on serious accidents at night. This night however, the chief made sure we got the patient out safely and then Everything left at once. We left that one state trooper directing traffic with two vehicles partially dismantled across more than half the highway. When accident investigators arrived from Baltimore 30 minutes later, it was getting dark and they wanted to know why the local FD wasn't on location with traffic control and lighting. The chief called over the dispatch frequency that for the time being we did not have any units available for traffic control or lighting support for MSP units since he could not guarantee their safety on the scene.

Three days later the chief received a written apology from the trooper along with assurances from the local barrack commander that it wouldn't happen again. Incident command falls to fire/rescue personnel until the situation is under control. Many police officers don't like that fact. Usually these situations in the news get blown way out of proportion and are the result of a few hot headed individuals who can't play nice together. Often, by the time it hits the news, cooler heads have already taken care of the situation via back channels.

--
Jamie Davis, NREMT-P "the Podmedic"
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