Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Report: Career Fire Fighter/Emergency Medical Technician Dies and Paramedic is Injured in a Three-Vehicle Collision in Nebraska.

摘要

On August 6, 2003, a 43-year-old career fire fighter/emergency medical technician (the victim) died after the ambulance he was driving was struck from behind and pushed into a straight truck. The victim and a lieutenant/paramedic were conducting a non-emergency transport between two hospitals. The ambulance was traveling through a highway workzone and as the ambulance driver slowed down to move around a line painting crew, a tractor semi-trailer struck the rear of the ambulance and pushed it into the straight truck. Although the victim was using the vehicle occupant restraint, the front cab sustained such extensive damage that he was fatally injured. The lieutenant/paramedic and a patient, who had been riding in the ambulance patient compartment, were also injured during the collision. On August 8, 2003, the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) notified the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Division of Safety Research of this incident. On October 15, 2003, a Safety and Occupational Health Specialist and a Safety Engineer investigated the incident. The NIOSH team interviewed the Chief and members of the department. They reviewed standard operating guidelines (SOGs), fire department photographs, reports from the Nebraska State Patrol and the County Sheriff, training records of the victim, the death certificate, and data from the 2003 Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) data base.