First responders to be required to wear safety vests

By EMS1 Staff

File photo

	Interested in Rescue Gear and Tools? Get pricing, product info & discounts from top companies.
* First: * Last: * Department: * Email: * Zip Code: Telephone:

A new federal mandate will require all first responders to begin wearing high-visibility vests while exposed on the roadway, effective Monday.

The Federal Highway Administration's Worker Visibility Rule (23CFR 634) now requires anyone — including emergency medical personnel, firefighters and police — working on federal highways to wear vests that meet ANSI standards for high-visibility. The vests are just one component of a larger strategy to protect responders from being struck by another vehicle while working the roadway scene.

According to incident reports on ResponderSafety.com, there have been numerous incidents so far this year of responders being struck while staging a scene or treating patients on the roadway.

Dave Long, an EMS educator focusing on safety, said injuries sustained on the side of the roadway while responding to traffic incidents is the number two cause of line-of-duty deaths for paramedics and firefighters.

“Let’s call the roadway what it is — the roadway is a combat zone,” Long said during his lecture at EMS EXPO in Las Vegas.