Motor-vehicle accidents are the second-leading cause of firefighter fatalities in the United States each year. In 2008 alone, vehicle crashes resulted in 29 firefighter deaths.
While there aren’t any fire service–specific statistics on seatbelt use, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has reported that seatbelts reduce a person's chances of dying in a crash by 45% and being injured by 50%. Seatbelts also prevent ejections from vehicles during a crash, an important factor in preventing fatalities, since 75% of car occupants ejected during crashes are killed, according to NHTSA. Several independent studies have shown that seatbelts also reduce the severity of injury. The odds of serious injury for people not wearing seatbelts are four to five times greater than for people who are belted.
Here, Steve Eickenroht of LifeGuard Technologies, a division of IMMI, discusses what measures manufacturers are taking to keep firefighters safe while inside their vehicles.
Why do firefighters not wear their seatbelts? We talk to a lot of firefighters; we talk to a lot of the chiefs; and I think the biggest reason is the time factor. Many firefighters feel they don’t have the time to get their seatbelts on. They’re responding to an emergency, so they’re trying to get themselves prepared for the call. There’s a lot in the cab with them. They’re messing with their gloves; they have their coats; they have their SCBA packs. So there are a lot of distractions keeping them from putting on their belts. Our goal is to make the seatbelts easy to use, so they can put on their belts and arrive safely to the scene.
What does test data on seatbelt use and injuries show?
Industry statistics from NHTSA say that drivers who wear their seatbelts are nearly twice as likely to survive an accident.
At IMMI, testing is a critical part of the development process for all of LifeGuard products. We have a crash test facility on our campus, called CAPE (the Center for Advanced Product Evaluation), where we do barrier testing, dynamic sled testing and rollover testing for fire apparatus. The video footage we collect during these tests shows us what happens to firefighters who aren’t belted in rollovers and frontal impacts.
In a frontal collision at 30 mph, an unbelted person is launched forward at 30 mph and hits the windshield at that same speed. This impact is equivalent to a person falling to the ground from the top of a 3-story building.
Another danger unbelted occupants face is ejection. In a rollover, unbelted occupants fly across the cab, sometimes into other passengers, and a passenger who is ejected is four times as likely to be fatally injured.
What we’ve done and what we’re continuing to study is how people are being injured and where there are contact points. This helps us to place our supplemental protection systems in the most effective locations.
What is the industry doing to improve seatbelt usage?
LifeGuard manufactures about 80% to 90% of seatbelts in new fire apparatus sold in the U.S. The new 1901 NFPA requirement mandates seatbelts with electric buckles and a vehicle data recorder on new apparatus. We’ve designed DataTrak™ to help fire officials meet NFPA requirements and improve seatbelt usage among their firefighters. It’s basically an on-board vehicle data recorder that records if there is someone in a seat and if he is wearing his seatbelt.
What is being done to improve cab safety? A lot of our products are created as a result of ideas we receive from people out in the field, and we encourage people to keep doing that. Stop by our booth at trade shows, participate in our surveys and let us know your struggles. We want to create products that solve problems and meet your needs.
For example, we created our SmartDock Gen2™ hands-free SCBA holder after listening to firefighters who were having trouble exiting their apparatus when they had levers and straps to deal with, as well as other equipment getting in the way. SmartDock is completely hands-free and releases automatically when the firefighter stands up.
The RollTek® system was created to help reduce deaths related to rollover accidents since more than half of fatalities in large commercial vehicles are a result of rollovers. The RollTek system tightens every firefighter’s seatbelt to keep them securely in their seats, pulls down suspension seats to increase survivable space, and cushions the heads and necks of firefighters.
Our 4Front® system was created to protect firefighters in the most common type of collision — where the apparatus is hit head-on. The 4Front sensor detects a crash and sends a signal to tighten the seatbelts, lower the suspension seats and inflate two airbags — one on the steering wheel and one knee bolster airbag.
All of these products are tested and evaluated at CAPE before they come to market in the fire industry.
What is the added cost of these systems on a new rig?
OEMs really control the pricing on these systems. Since RollTek has been out in the field longer, we have a better idea of the cost to the end-user, and that system typically runs between $5,000 and $10,000 per truck, depending on the number of seating positions.
In general, we recommend people contact their OEMs directly for pricing information.
Can older apparatus be retrofitted?
RollTek and 4Front are engineered into specific cabs and have to be validated through a series of tests at CAPE before being made available on a truck platform. If a customer has a specific request and the product has been validated on that platform, we could technically retrofit these products. We haven’t participated in one of those retrofit programs to date, so I don’t have a cost for what that would be relative to a new truck. If it’s an older cab that’s not in current production, the OEMs won’t support a retrofit.
SmartDock Gen2 is currently available for retrofit on any brand of truck through Pierce Aftermarket Parts. With its low profile, SmartDock Gen2 works with a wide variety of SCBA seats and fits more than 85% of SCBA in today’s U.S. fire departments.
What advice do you have for fire chiefs who cannot afford added safety devices such as air bags?
Seatbelts are the primary safety system in a truck. It’s your first line of defense, so I’d recommend putting a program together to educate firefighters on the benefits of using their seatbelts.
Accidents at 30 mph may sound minor but when our crash tests show the trucks going into the wall at this speed, it’s easy to see why most of those accidents aren’t survivable without a seatbelt. Getting firefighters to wear their seatbelts is a huge factor.
We do know that there are firefighters out there who do wear their belts. Within the past year and a half, we’ve had two trucks equipped with RollTek roll over. All the firefighters were belted and protected by the airbags, so we know there are good stories out there about our products and how they’re making a difference in protecting firefighters.
