Learning from a medic's death

It was around 8:30 in the morning, Thanksgiving Day 2001. My pager, cell, and home phone started going off at the same time. This would not be good news or holiday wishes. I answered my cell and learned that one of our units had overturned and possibly one person was dead.

Image Jim Love A memorial for Josh was established at the site of the ambulance crash.

As the regional safety manager, I had to respond. The location of the crash was, on a normal day, only a couple hours drive. But, being Thanksgiving, the roads were overcrowded and the drive time was extended. Various details of the event were revealed enroute. First and foremost, our own medic Josh Hanson was dead. Our vehicle rolled over; the medic, who was driving, was partially ejected. His partner was also injured, though the injuries were reported to be non-life threatening.

This was such a catastrophe that even the town's mayor responded. By the time I arrived a critical incident stress debriefing was underway. The town and my company were both numb with shock.

Over the days and weeks that followed we learned a lot about this collision and about the people.

• We were responding hot to a nursing home for a patient in cardiac arrest.
• We failed to stop at a red light.
• Our crew was not wearing seatbelts.
• Josh's partner had never defibrillated a patient and Josh was hoping to beat other responders to the scene so she could have this experience.
• Josh was married.
• Josh was said to have a constant smile and an infectious personality that everyone liked and respected.
• His partner was never able to return to EMS. She made several attempts to return to duty, after both in- and outpatient therapy, but as soon as the red lights and siren came on she became unable to complete the call.

We also learned that this crew routinely did not wear seatbelts, and routinely did not stop at red lights and stop signs. We learned that this was the existing culture at this operation and that it had been passed from one generation to the next. Josh and his partner both were driving instructors.

Finally, we learned that many levels of the organization were aware of this practice and either condoned these at-risk behaviors or looked the other way.

I have written articles detailing that, for events surrounding 911 and the Shuttle Columbia disasters, people at many levels knew of the various risks and hazards and failed to take action; they essentially condoned at-risk behavior by looking the other way.

To best honor Josh's memory we must learn from this tragedy and ensure that this does not happen again.

• EMS vehicles must stop at red lights and stop signs, and there must be a local, enforced policy that has consequences for failure to comply.
• EMS responders must wear seatbelts, and there must be local, enforced policy that has consequences for failure to comply.
• Management is not allowed the freedom to look the other way and if caught doing so must sacrifice control of their team.
• Peers must also speak up to identify at-risk behavior.
• Agencies must have priority dispatch in effect.

We truly need to know our existing safety culture and to know if it matches our vision.

I and others lost a Thanksgiving — not much of a loss really.

Josh's partner lost a career and a good friend.

Peers lost a good friend and a leader — someone they looked up to.

Many lost more than one night's sleep wondering what they might have done differently.

Josh's parents lost a son.

Josh's wife lost a husband.

Josh lost his life.

Josh lived briefly after the collision — just long enough to know what had happened. Josh's partner, as well as management and coworkers, are still alive and must live each day knowing they could have changed this outcome, could have prevented this loss.

I never knew Josh in life, though I wish I had. It's the ten year anniversary of the crash and we should not forget what happened. A common definition of insanity goes like this: "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome." If we as EMS providers continue to run red lights without due regard, if we continue not to buckle up, this experience will be repeated.

This tragedy, like 9/11 and the Columbia disaster, prove that we cannot look the other way, cannot pretend that at-risk behavior does not produce far reaching consequence. We cannot take the easy way out and do nothing. We must take action and we must speak out and speak up.