Livingston Today

Lowell Area Fire Department recently issued the following announcement.

Happy Friday  We would like to end the week with some "behind the scenes" into our calls  for traffic accidents. Michigan State Police Office of Highway Safety Planning reported that a traffic crash was reported in Michigan every 2 minutes and 9 seconds. When we are called to the scene of an accident on a divided highway or other roadway, we risk being struck by a vehicle or being injured or killed in the line of duty. We do advance warning by blocking lanes, placing traffic cones and positioning them to block lanes, provide safe positioning of our vehicles to protect us and to provide the highest safety for our patients. 

We will man the lane with stop signs, our vehicle lights are on and flashing as well to help alert everyone around the scene. MSP reported 6410 accidents in 2020 resulting from disregarding traffic control and improper passing & improper lane use, etc. 61 fatalities resulted from those accidents. We do our best to accommodate everyone as we know you have places to go, we don't want a traffic back up anymore than you do since that has the potential to cause secondary crashes. We also do our best to provide you with an alternative route to or from your destination. 49 emergency responders have been struck and killed nationwide while responding to traffic incidents since January 2021, and more emergency responders  have been struck as of October 2021 then the entire year of 2020. Please understand the first 15 minutes of a roadway incident response are critical. What the first arriving responders do and do not do will impact the entire incident in many ways.  We have to think about room for the ambulance to get as close to the patient as possible, block and protect the immediate area from traffic so we can protect our patient and give them as much privacy as possible all while protecting our family so they can take care of yours without worry they will be struck by traffic that has disregarded lane closures, distracted driving, etc.  

We have to also plan a safe landing zone for Aero Med if that service is needed. We have to block side streets or any other secondary road that traffic that has disregarded cones. There are a lot of moving parts to a scene and we need your help and your support. We all have families and want to go home to them just like you do. Please move over for emergency vehicles and stay back as far away as possible from the scene of an accident to give us room to work. Stop and use alternative routes to avoid the area. We love our community and we want to get EVERYONE home safely ... Have a great weekend

Original source can be found here.