“Officer ejected from apparatus in serious condition”, “Firefighter died of injuries sustained from being ejected from engine”.  These are headlines from 2014! Why is this still happening? Doesn’t every department in the country have a policy about seat belts? Didn’t we all sign a seatbelt pledge? 

My answer to this question is “Culture” we don’t want to change.  Culture is deeply ingrained in the fire service.  Part of that culture is to not speak up.  I talked before about the fear of speaking up or reminding our brothers and sisters to do things safely. Seat belts are one of those “things” we have a tendency to not help each other out with. Would you let your partner go into an IDLH environment without doing a buddy check? No, because we have always been told that being part of the team is doing that for each other. So, why not do a “buddy check” before the apparatus rolls off the apron of the station?

Why not wear your seatbelt?  Does your department have a policy of wearing seatbelts?  Has your department signed the Nation Seatbelt Pledge?  Twenty-seven fire departments in the state of Washington have signed along with the Washington State Fire Training Academy.  Two combined volunteer fire academies in Pierce County and the Washington State Fire Training Academy, class of 2013 have also signed the pledge.  With 500+ fire departments and fire districts in the State of Washington this is a very poor showing.  You can see the list of Washington departments that are 100% compliant with the International First Responder Seatbelt Pledge by going to http://www.everyonegoeshome.com/seatbelts.  The National Fire Service Seatbelt Pledge was created following the death of Texas firefighter Brian Hunton to reduce the firefighter fatalities.  Over 400 firefighters have died in vehicle crashes in the last 30 years; 300 did not have on seatbelts.  

There was an article in Fire Engineering stating that only 55% of firefighters wear their seatbelts which means that 45% do NOT wear their seatbelts.  

We in the fire service know there is a problem so why don’t we fix it?  Firefighters are not alone in not wearing their seatbelts.  The National Highway Traffic Administration reports that at least 42% of police officers killed in vehicle crashes nationally over the past 30 years were not wearing their seatbelts.  They NHTA also did a survey and found the highest use of seatbelts for the general public was in the west at 94%.  The State of Washington has the highest seatbelt use in the nation at 98%...