LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Employee safety comes first
I found “Regulating the Rescue” (Editor’s Opinion, March 1992) about CONN-OSHA’S citation against the Windsor Locks (CT) firefighters extremely interesting. As a member of management of an industrial emergency response organization, I am very familiar with federal OSHA’s impact on all phases of our business. Unfortunately, I feel that the editorial missed the point of the CONN-OSHA actions. Management of any organization cannot —and must not —justify endangering its employees for any reason, no matter how noble. Nor must management ever encourage, by commission or omission, employees taking any initiative without regard for their own safety. Certainly, seconds count in many emergency response situations, especially in that which was dramatized in the editorial. However, the real issue here is not how quickly the rescue of the individual can be effected, but how the responders can safely and quickly perform the rescue to the benefit of all concerned. A responder who succumbs to the environment he or she enters to remove a victim will be honored as a hero. That is only right. However, what is gained if you lose one of your most valuable assets, a fully trained and qualified emergency responder?
Playing by the book is difficult in the best of times. But the book fulfills a greater need. It makes us focus on the first need of all of our employees, be they volunteers or paid: that they are as healthy when they return from a run as they were when they left.
Vie should not look on regulatory attempts that protect us from ourselves as interference with getting the job at hand done. Rather, we should become participants in the process so that we understand the goal of the regulators and they get to understand our special concerns. History will always have its heroes, but it is better to praise them while they are still here than to eulogize them.
John P. McCann Jr. Emergency Response Specialist Sun Refining and Marketing Company Philadelphia, Pennsyli’ania
Firefighter/paramedic needs help
This letter is a request for help for our son, Jim Gofer, who has been a volunteer firefighter and paramedic in Denver and Colorado Springs, Colorado. He desperately needs a kidney and pancreas transplant. The surgery will cost about $200,000, of which about $62,000 will be covered by insurance. He must have at least $75,000 before his name can be put on the list for surgery.
Jim is 41 years old and has been a diabetic since he was five years old. His health began to fail five years ago. He suffered a stroke in 1988 and has been on dialysis since 1989. The transplant is his only hope for leading a productive life again.
To help or obtain additional information, call (303) 926-3856, or write to Jim’s Transplant Fund, P.O. Box 116, Edwards, CO 81632-0116. We are thankful tor any help you can give.
Ann and Lee Cofer Edwards, Colorado
LDH gaining wide acceptance
As an active firefighter in rural southwestern New Hampshire, I’d like to compliment Battalion Chief William C. Peters for his fine article, “A Practical Approach to Large-Diameter Hose” (January 1992).
LDH —particularly four-inch—has gained wide acceptance here in New England not only among rural departments but even in suburban and urban departments. I’d like to contribute two thoughts in the area of auxiliary equipment with LDH:
1. In a traffic situation where hose bridges are needed but not available, wooden two-inch by four-inch cribbing, usually used for MVA stabilization, might be used. Actually, w’e’ve had good results simply shoveling earth or sand around the hose to act as a bridge.
2. I would suggest including an LDH clamp. A hydraulic clamp available has the pump handle four feet away from the clamp itself; they are separated by a hydraulic line, permitting the operator to safely clamp or, especially, release a charged line from a distance.
Donald McD. Chambers
Antrim, New Hampshire
Fire department needs equipment
This is a request for the donation of excess or old equipment to assist us in outfitting a new volunteer fire department. We are in a rural area of northeastern Arkansas that up until now’ has not had an organized fire department. Due to the construction of several factories, we are rapidly growing, although the area is sparsely populated. Our local community has been very’ generous to us, but we still need bunkers, hand tools, hose, nozzles, and ladders. We can be reached at P.O. Box 132, Armorel, AR 72310, (501) 763-1566. Thank you for any help you can give us.
Rick Collier
Chief
Armorel/ Huff man Fire Department Armorel. Arkansas
