If you believe Gordon Graham’s mantra “Predictable is Preventable” it is time for us to take action to stop the stealing of emergency vehicles from hospitals, incident scenes, and fire stations.
Winnipeg Engine 24 was stolen from a medical call on Friday. The bad guy plowed into a half-ton truck, knocking a power pole down. An off-duty firefighter witnessed the collision, saw the civilian driver, and called the police.
The bad guy then drove onto the grass at Central Park and appeared to be aiming the speeding pumper at civilians in the park. While under police pursuit the rig collided with a tree, drove against traffic on various one-way streets, ran through numerous red-light intersections and collided with a traffic bollard and wall before police could stop the rig after a 15-minute pursuit. The bad guy continued to fight the police and had to be tased.
Every week the Company Commander Facebook newsfeed has an article about an emergency vehicle stolen – some incurring significant damage to the rig and other property. There appears an increase of fire apparatus involvement as well as theft of equipment from the compartments.
For example, Columbus, Ohio, Ladder 10 lost saws and power tools while it was shopping at a grocery store this weekend:
- 2 Stihl circular saws: TS 500 / TS 700 with dax blade
- 1/2″ Milwaukee drill. In box with drill bit set
- Tool box with miscellaneous tools
- 2 Milwaukee bags with: Cordless drill / cordless saw zaw / drill bit index / assorted drill accessories
Vehicle Anti-Theft Devices
There are devices that allow you to keep the vehicle running at an incident or the hospital bay, but will shut down the vehicle down if an effort is made to move the vehicle while the system is activated. Automobile and light-duty trucks use the ignition key as the activator. These devices are under $500 per vehicle. The heavy-duty apparatus may require a more sophisticated system.
Securing Emergency Response Vehicles With Engineering (SERVE)
Michael Johansmeyer developed the SERVE (Securing Emergency Response Vehicles With Engineering) as his Homeland Security master’s thesis at the Naval Postgraduate School. Securing public safety vehicles: reducing vulnerabilities by leveraging smart technology and design strategies describes a four-tier system:
- Theft Prevention
- Authorized Use
- Tracking and Recovery
- Human-Machine Interface Considerations
Education – Engineering – Enforcement
You can start by going “old school” – having the chauffeur take the keys and turn the rig off when it is safe to do so. The condition of many over-stressed automotive systems may make this difficult as for some rigs there is a high probability that the rig will overheat or not restart once shut down at the hospital.
There is a safety issue when we are using the emergency lights on the rig at the incident scene to protect crews or are using the apparatus-based scene lights to provide visibility.
Lockable compartments
At an FDIC conference, some colleagues pointed out that an FDNY rig on the exhibit floor had locking hasps on all of the compartment doors. This picture shows the compartment locks on FDNY Ladder 103:
My fear is that one of these thefts will result in a horrific tragedy that leaves a family murdered when they are struck by a fleeing emergency rig. Imagine the possible carnage if the apparatus theft is part of a planned terrorist activity, instead of the acting-out behavior of an intoxicated or behavioral health individual.
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IWCE (2019 June 9) “Risk Management is a laughing matter.” Gordon Graham Keynote at National Emergency Number Association Conference, Fort Worth. https://urgentcomm.com/2009/06/09/risk-management-is-a-laughing-matter/
Gibson, Shane (2019 November 29) Driver of stolen Winnipeg fire truck tried to hit pedestrians, say police. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/6235282/stolen-firetruck-takes-police-on-chase-through-winnipeg/
Dawkins, Glen (2019 November 30) Winnipeg man faces numerous charges after taking fire truck for dangerous joyride Friday. Winnipeg Sun. https://winnipegsun.com/news/local-news/man-faces-numerous-charges-after-taking-fire-truck-for-dangerous-joyride-friday
Staff (2019 November 30) Equipment stolen from Columbus fire truck. Columbus, Ohio NBC4. https://www.nbc4i.com/news/local-news/equipment-stolen-from-columbus-fire-truck/
Johnansmeyer, Michael (2013 December) “Securing public safety vehicles: reducing
vulnerabilities by leveraging smart technology and design strategies.” Master’s Thesis, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California. https://calhoun.nps.edu/bitstream/handle/10945/38958/13Dec_Johansmeyer_Michael.pdf?sequence=1
Ladder 103 picture from Usdin, Glen (2017 August 14) Inside the FDNY Fleet Repair Facility – Keeping the Nation’s Largest Fire Department in Service. Landisville, PA: Command Fire Apparatus. https://www.commandfireapparatus.com/inside-fdny-fleet-repair-facility/
Featured image: WSOCTV.com (2019 April 2) “WATCH: Man crashes stolen ambulance into parked vehicles.” Charlotte, NC: Cox Communications. https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/watch-man-crashes-stolen-medic-truck-into-multiple-vehicles-police-say/936049958