Dislodged Hose Dragged By Engine Strikes Massachusetts Man: The Need For Hose Restraints
A Revere, Massachusetts man was injured last Friday when he was struck by hose that had dislodged and was being dragged by a passing engine company. The video below shows the man being struck. While not a legal issue per se (yet anyway) – much of the law is directed at redressing accidents and injuries. There are so many parallels between the law of negligence and safety that we need to discuss this case to hopefully get the word out.
The Revere case sounds eerily familiar to the case that occurred in Cambridge, Massachusetts on January 26, 2010 when Gertrude King, 82, of Somerville, was struck and killed by a fire hose that dislodged from a passing engine company. In both the Revere and Cambridge cases, the hoses were attack handlines that came from crosslays (Mattydales).
These two cases are similar to yet another case, this one from Pennsylvania. On August 19, 2004, 10 year old Erin Schmidt was struck and killed by a hose being dragged by an engine from the Coraopolis Volunteer Fire Department. That hose was an attack hoseline that came from a crosslay.
Following the Coraopolis incident, the NFPA required all new apparatus to be delivered with devices to restrain hose in the hose bed. At present, there is no requirement that older trucks be retrofitted. Of great concern to me is the fact that many fire departments (and firefighters) are removing the restraint devices from newer apparatus because firefighters find them to be “inconvenient”.
Probably like many of you, I have heard the rationalizations that firefighters are prone to give for defeating safety features like hose restraints. “How could hose possibly come out of there”. “They must not have packed it right”. “Its never happened to any fire department around here”. “I always check my mirrors”. Firefighters being firefighters.
However, what should be clear is we have a problem with crosslays. The Cambridge and Revere cases demonstrate that Coraopolis was not a fluke. A quick check of the Near Miss Database shows several additional cases have occurred. The NFPA technical committee for apparatus or perhaps occupational safety and health committee may be moved to make the restraint requirement retroactive.
Rather than make an impassioned plea for firefighters to “do the right thing”, let me simply offer some free legal advice: If a truck comes in with a safety feature, live with it. If some genius decides to remove it, and someone is killed – the genius may very well be facing criminal manslaughter or negligent homicide charges. While he is sitting in jail one of the few highlights of his stay will be getting to take a “field trip” to court for the inevitable civil liability trial. The Coraopolis case settled for roughly $5 million after several years of wrangling. When the genius gets out of prison (2 to 15 years later), he can start paying off the portion of the judgment that was not covered by insurance.
“Do the right thing”. And let’s get the word out about hose restraints.
We had hose bed covers back in the days of cotton jacket hose — not sure about the cities, but in the rural areas with long responses and often long times between calls for hose to sit in beds and mildew (and rot), you wanted to keep it dry unless used.
Then came synthetic jackets. W00T! No more hose bed covers, since usually the stuff dried itself off quick enough not to mildew, and even if it did it wouldn’t rot from fungus growing in it’s fibers.
Hmmmm…then you started having LDH self-deploying from hose beds and attack lines flinging out from hose beds. (The better quality lines — the ones with slicker outer jackets that are easier to advance because they have less friction with what they’re rubbing against, are worse for self-deploying).
Back come the hose covers.
No big deal.
The one thing I will add — our ’73 Engine-Tank the cover that dropped down was just a Hypalon flap with a heavy lead weight along the bottom edge. No hooks or velcro to deal with, just flip it up out of your way to grab the hose. I’m no engineer, but I wonder if a similar system using a steel weight and magnets would make a simple but sufficient system that’s even easier the hooks or velcro.
The hose design may be playing a role in the problem – but that is pure speculation on my part. Some of the hose manufacturers were touting their hose as “lighter”, “glides across pavement” and “easier to drag” in an effort to market to understaffed departments. Since the Coraopolis incident they are a bit more careful in the phrasing of their advertisements because the same properties that allow hose to “glide”… makes it glide off the truck!!!!
1 in a million accident, but someone will want legislation. More unneeded rules.
Firefighters being firefighters. You gotta love’em.
No different than the shoulder straps on EMS stretchers- yeah, they’re kind of a PITA, and consequently are the least-used device on most 911 ambulances that I’ve ever seen. Yet there’s a REASON they’re there; there’s a REASON the stretchers aren’t sold without them.
And the reason is people have died because the straps weren’t used. But apparently ambulances in RI are immune to the laws of physics.
Actually this is a very common event. Within the last six years I have had the misfortune to be the Officer on two different apparatus when this occured. I also know of multiple other events in Houston, Tx. As stated, it is a combination or perfect storm, if you will, of events. It is also one we should all take care to prevent before someone gets killed.