Go Play in the Street … Safely !

1. Go Play in the Street … Safely ! “A Need To Be Seen”

2. OVERVIEW “PLAY IN THE STREETS… SAFELY !” This presentation will identify operational practices that will provide protection and enhance safety for personnel operating in or near moving vehicle traffic.

3. PLANNING R408.17433 An employer shall have and implement written operational procedures specific to the type of hazard to which an employee may be exposed.

4. PLANNING According to NIOSH, agencies should: • Establish preplans regarding traffic control for emergency service incidents. • Develop pre-incident plans for areas that have a high rate of motor vehicle crashes. • Establish pre-incident agreements with law enforcement and highway departments.(AAPD, vs LCSD approach) Meaning?

5. PLANNING According to NIOSH, agencies should: • Establish a unified command system. (Face to face communication with Law Enforcement, EMS, Fire, DOT, and Towing Service.) • Ensure that an incident safety officer, independent of the incident commander, is appointed. • Assign a traffic control supervisor. • Authorize the supervisor to halt work until unsafe conditions have been eliminated. Meaning?

6. PLANNING When an incident occurs on a limited access highway, an additional apparatus should be dispatched along with the first-due companies. The principal functions of the additional company are to: • make approaching traffic aware that there is an emergency scene ahead, • to provide an upstream ‘block’, and • to deploy additional traffic control devices. Meaning?

7. MANAGE MUTCD: “Responders should … take measures to move the traffic incident as far off the traveled roadway as possible, or to provide appropriate warning.” (Coordinated and Pre-Planned with all law enforcement agencies)

8. FEMA: Mark apparatus with conspicuous contrasting colors Consider visibility and conspicuity when designing color and placement of additional warning lights on vehicles. 8

9. Fluorescent colors are seen 70% further than other colors because they are rarely seen naturally. Large blocks of complimentary color contrast: Orange/Blue, Yellow/Violet, Green/Red are more effective than thin stripes.

10. www.crestlinecoach.com 10

11. Design ambulances and rescue vehicles so that the outside emergency equipment/storage compartments containing equipment needed at an MVC are all on one side of the ambulance.

12. HIGHWAY TERMINOLOGY • Right and left – Orientation is based upon facing in the direction which traffic is flowing. • Inside and outside – Terms given to sides of the highway. Inside is the middle or median side. • Upstream- refers to any area of a highway or any moving traffic that is approaching the actual incident or activity area. • Downstream – refers to the area that is past the incident.

13. NIOSH: Position apparatus to take advantage of topography and weather, and to protect responders from traffic. Park unneeded vehicles off the roadway.

14. Apparatus shall be utilized as a shield from oncoming traffic wherever possible. When acting as a shield, apparatus warning lights shall remain on, if appropriate.

15. BLOCKING IN THE TRANSITION AREA Blocking creates a ‘shadow’ downstream. Working in the ‘shadow’ offers the greatest degree of safety and protection from moving traffic. The patient loading area of the ambulance should be in the ‘shadow’.

16. TRAFFIC BLOCKING PROCEDURES White flashing, rotating, and strobe lights off.

17. Ground Lights …‘ON’

18. Leave interior lights ‘ON’

19. Minimize the ‘carnival’ of lights. • Maintain emergency warning lights on vehicles that are blocking or providing advanced warning. • Reduce or extinguish warning lights on vehicles parked away from the traveled lanes. (Consider leaving only 4-way flashers.) • Consider warning ‘upstream’ only

20. Limit the use of apparatus headlights and deploy flood lights downward to light the work area, while reducing the glare hazard for other drivers. It takes an average of 6 seconds to regain our “night vision.” 30 mph – 264 feet (longer than our pre-connects) 45 mph – 396 feet 60 mph – 528 feet, or 1/10 of a mile!

21. QUIZ How many responders parked on the opposite side of the expressway and jumped the median wall to access this incident?

22. Don’t create a ‘Split Scene’!

23. OSHA 29CFR 1926.651(d) Employees exposed to public vehicular traffic shall be provided with, and shall wear, warning vests or other suitable garments marked with or made of reflectorized or high-visibility material.

24. 23CFR Part 634 – Worker Visibility (Effective November 24, 2008) “All workers within the right-of-way of a Federal-aid highway…shall wear high visibility safety apparel.” (“High Visibility Safety Apparel” is defined as safety clothing that meets the Performance Class 2 or Class 3 requirements.)

25. ANSI STD. FOR HI-VIS APPAREL Class 2 –Superior visibility and more conspicuous than class 1. Suggested for inclement weather, attention diverted from or close proximity to traffic. Includes emergency response personnel. Wrap around the upper body

26. ANSI STD. FOR HI-VIS APPAREL Class 3 – Greater visibility by adding material to arms and/or legs. Suggested for higher vehicle speeds and/or high task loads. Includes emergency response personnel. Outline of the body

27. ANSI STD. FOR HI-VIS APPAREL ANSI/ISEA 207-2006 for Public Safety Vests includes provisions for break-away or tear-away features

28. PERSONAL SURVIVAL SKILLS REMAIN VIGILANT AT ALL TIMES NEVER TRUST TRAFFIC HAVE AN ESCAPE ROUTE

29. PERSONAL SURVIVAL SKILLSFront Cab Exit Protocols: • Look at approaching traffic in a side mirror • Turn your head to look rearward over your shoulder at approaching traffic • Open the door partially • Check approaching traffic • Exit vehicle to street if safe to do so

30. PERSONAL SURVIVAL SKILLSFront Cab Exit Protocols: Continued • Close the door. • Maintain a low profile alongside the apparatus, with your eyes on the approaching traffic • With your back to the apparatus, move around to the protected side of the apparatus.

31. PERSONAL SURVIVAL SKILLSRear of an ambulance Exit Protocols: • Use either the side or rear door, whichever is furthest from traffic. • Look at approaching traffic through windows • Open door partially • Check for approaching traffic

32. PERSONAL SURVIVAL SKILLSRear of an ambulance Exit Protocols continued: • Exit if safe to do so. • Close the door • Maintain a low profile • Move to the protected side of the ambulance away from the traffic

33. PERSONAL SURVIVAL SKILLSManeuvering around apparatus • Move along the downstream, protected side of the apparatus • Stop at all corners of the vehicle • Look upstream at approaching traffic • Move to compartment • Open compartment door • Obtain the equipment while continually checking traffic

34. PERSONAL SURVIVAL SKILLSManeuvering around apparatus • Obtain the equipment while continually checking traffic • Close the door • Maintain a low profile alongside the vehicle, with your eyes on approaching traffic • Move to a safe location

35. PERSONAL SURVIVAL SKILLSGeneral Considerations • Carry a flashlight for signaling. • Never step into the road without looking at traffic. • Carry what you might want on the first trip – avoid making multiple trips from the scene to the ambulance. • Approach on the shoulder – not the lane • Work on the shoulder – not in the road • Utilize your resources

36. PERSONAL SURVIVAL SKILLSEveryone GET IN A PROTECTED AREA AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, AND STAY IN A PROTECTED AREA AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.

37. CONTROL Michigan statute states that law enforcement has the primary responsibility for traffic control at emergency incidents. NIOSH: If police have not arrived, control oncoming vehicles before turning attention to the emergency.

38. CONTROL MUTCD: “An essential part of … rescue … activities is the proper control of road users through the traffic incident management area in order to protect responders, victims, and other personnel at the site while providing reasonable safe traffic flow.”

39. NIOSH: If it is impossible to protect the scene from immediate danger, position yourself and the victim in a secure area and maximize your visibility. Close the road completely when necessary.

40. Place flares while walking with traffic, watching traffic, while walking from the shoulder to the center

41. Termination Area Lets traffic resume normal operations COMPONENTS OF A TEMPORARY TRAFFIC CONTROL ZONE AT A ‘TRAFFIC INCIDENT.’ (100 ft.) Downstream Taper Traffic Space allows traffic to pass through the activity area Fire and EMS activities take place here Activity Area is where work takes place Buffer Space (lateral) provides protection for traffic and workers Buffer Space (longitudinal) provides protection for traffic and workers Transition Area moves traffic out of its normal path Advanced Warning Area tells traffic what to expect ahead

42. ADVANCE WARNING AREA The A.W.A. Begins at the first warning light or sign. 200’ in a 35 mph zone 500’ in a 50 mph zone ½ mile on an expressway Consider curves and hills to ensure the advanced warning device is visible 350’ upstream.

43. TRANSITION AREA Taper – The use of signs, cones, flares or blocking vehicles to direct approaching traffic from the normal traffic lanes into a fewer number of traffic lanes. Establishes the ‘transition area’.

44. Place cones while walking with traffic, watching traffic, while walking from the shoulder to the center Pick cones up while walking toward traffic, from the center to the shoulder

45. ACTIVITY AREA The “activity area” is the area at an incident scene that is protected from moving traffic

46. If one is established, park the ambulance in the protected portion of the activity area. The ambulance should be parked to best protect the loading area of the ambulance.

47. SUMMARY 4 Key Points: • Park to Protect – Take the Lane + 1, • Dress to be Seen, • Warn and Control Oncoming Traffic, and • Work in the Protected Zone – Don’t Trust the Traffic.

48. Carl Hein(734) 878 4997 chein@chartermi.net 48