TIM can be a matter of life and death for responders

Imagine a nearby car accident that requires response from Holyoke Volunteer Fire Department. Firefighters are busy at the scene when suddenly a distracted motorist causes a secondary collision, injuring nine of HVFD’s crew. The injuries will obviously impact the firefighters themselves and their families. But what other ramifications might there be?

With half of HVFD unable to respond, mutual aid would likely be required to help fight future fires. That could cause increased wait times and take other departments away from their own communities.

“One little incident has a humongous domino effect on everybody in the region,” said Colorado State Patrol Master Sergeant Burl Giffin to Phillips County first responders at a Feb. 29 Traffic Incident Management training program.

The National TIM Responder Training is provided by the Federal Highway Administration, and Saturday’s local course was coordinated by Phillips County Office of Emergency Management and Phillips County Sheriff’s Office.

In leading the training, Giffin, who has been assigned by CSP to Fort Morgan for 25 years, shared his first-hand experience with the dangers of responding to a traffic incident. In 2004, he was directing traffic on I-76 during a blizzard. A driver going 75 mph lost control on the ice. Giffin was able to run out of the way, but the driver ran straight into his patrol car.

It’s incidents like this that inspired TIM responder training. The goal? Responder safety; safe, quick clearance; and prompt, reliable, interoperable communications.

Participants in Saturday’s training at Paoli Town Hall included law enforcement officers from Holyoke and Haxtun police departments as well as PCSO. There were also numerous firefighters from both towns and a paramedic from Holyoke EMS.

Despite having different responsibilities when responding to a traffic incident, every person in attendance learned strategies for keeping themselves and road users safe while also keeping traffic moving.

Given that an average of 10 law enforcement officers, four firefighters, and 40-60 towing and recovery professionals are killed each year in struck-by incidents, it’s important for local responders to learn practical methods to reduce their risk.

During the four-hour course Feb. 29, participants completed nine lessons. Topics ranged from basic safe vehicle positioning to special circumstances surrounding hazardous materials.

Many of the things that responders are trained to be aware of also serve as a good reminder to drivers. Consider the D’s, and never drive drunk, drugged, drowsy, distracted or just plain dangerous.

If a driver happens upon an incident, they should always remember to move over when the lanes allow. If there isn’t space to move over, slow down. First responders face enough danger without drivers flying by at 75 mph.