Oklahoma Fire Fighter Studies Lack of On-Duty Seatbelt Use

February 26, 2010 – While heart attacks remain the most frequent cause of fire fighter deaths, another leading cause is injuries sustained from vehicle accidents. Of those accidents, 21 percent of fire fighters were ejected from the vehicle during the collision.

As part of his pursuit to earn a master’s degree in fire emergency management at Oklahoma State University, Oklahoma City, OK Local 157 fire fighter Matt McNabb recently conducted a statewide survey to determine actual use of on-duty seatbelt use and possible ways to increase usage.

“This project was more than filling degree requirement for me,” says McNabb. “I hope my findings will help save some lives.”

The Oklahoma City fire fighter sent surveys to 17 fire departments and received 588 individual responses. Some of the results were included:

• 94 percent of the fire department vehicles have seatbelts
• 48.5 percent had not received seat belt training
• 45.5 percent of fire fighters said they always wore their seatbelts
• 41.8 percent said they had been in at least one on-duty vehicle accident

McNabb also found that if a fire fighter did not wear a seatbelt, it was because the fire fighter was still putting on fire protective gear which is not possible with the seatbelt on.

As part of his recommendations, McNabb suggested a change in procedure requirements to encourage fire fighters to finish putting on gear before getting into fire apparatus.

His survey is on file in the Oklahoma State University Fire Emergency Management Administration department and is available to the public.