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Post by fireman1190 on Jan 9, 2009 15:12:53 GMT -5
its nice to point out that this only applies to federally funded roads. However, as was stated, its too confusing and also not a safe practice to choose whether to wear a vest depending on who funds the road. thats kinda silly.
and lets not forget that regardless of what the law says, if your Fire Department makes a rule that you wear it all the time, then do it.
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Post by thelurker on Jan 11, 2009 0:12:25 GMT -5
its nice to point out that this only applies to federally funded roads. However, as was stated, its too confusing and also not a safe practice to choose whether to wear a vest depending on who funds the road. thats kinda silly. and lets not forget that regardless of what the law says, if your Fire Department makes a rule that you wear it all the time, then do it. It's not really confusing or silly. I was pointing out what the law said. About 40 other people already said what their department's blanket policy was going to be. Guess what, not every department has even purchased vests yet, let alone made a policy. Now the individual firefighters can be armed with their own knowledge and understanding of the law also. I was only providing information, hell I've been wearing my vest on the highway since 2002. |
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Post by fireman1190 on Jan 11, 2009 15:40:26 GMT -5
you sound offended. why? i agree with you!
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hp4l
Division Supervisor 
Remember Your Roots
Posts: 600
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Post by hp4l on Jan 11, 2009 17:27:37 GMT -5
At the risk of being "that guy," I can't believe we have 3 pages of back and forth about traffic vests, yet the Make The Calls get no attention anymore.
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Post by fireman1190 on Jan 11, 2009 23:28:07 GMT -5
good point. i kinda tried to resurrect the MTC threads when i joined here, with the help of papacheese of course. Didn't get much attention at all.
I know i'd like to see more of MTC
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Post by WebBoss on Jan 12, 2009 9:07:27 GMT -5
its nice to point out that this only applies to federally funded roads. However, as was stated, its too confusing and also not a safe practice to choose whether to wear a vest depending on who funds the road. thats kinda silly. and lets not forget that regardless of what the law says, if your Fire Department makes a rule that you wear it all the time, then do it. It's not really confusing or silly. I was pointing out what the law said. About 40 other people already said what their department's blanket policy was going to be. Guess what, not every department has even purchased vests yet, let alone made a policy. Now the individual firefighters can be armed with their own knowledge and understanding of the law also. I was only providing information, hell I've been wearing my vest on the highway since 2002. Very true and a very good point. I have actually considered purchasing a vest of my own as close as possible to my department's in order to maintian uniformity, but in a size larger so that it was more comfortable over my t/o gear. I have actually been tossing around the thought of doing this and keeping it on my coat, and just take it off when I need to don my SCBA or on the rare occasion I'm actually assigned as something other then officer or driver. Now that I've gotten used to these new break apart vests, they're much easier to get off then to get on. Again, just my opinion. Aside from vests, what else es everyone's departments doing to help with roadway visability and safety? I know we added alot of extra trim to our TO gear, chevrons to the back of the rigs, extra lighting, policies and training, and so on and so on. |
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jack1
Forum Candidate
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Post by jack1 on Jan 12, 2009 23:18:55 GMT -5
"If your feet are on the street then the vest is on your chest" - That is the only policy that should be needed. As D/C I keep it on the jacket as it is easier to doff then don. I found a company www.majorsafety.com that has a compliant vest in two sizes M-XL and 2X-5X that just about covers all size variations. They are only $21.50 and they will give bulk discounts. Luckily, we got the vests for free from the PD. The FD supplies all of the EMS supplies to the patrols and the PD will purchase a negotiated amount of safety supplies on a yearly basis. It works out very nice. As far as additional measures, our new aerial will have the red and fluorescent yellow chevrons on the rear and outriggers, reflective stripping and strobes on the interior of doors that activate when in the open position. I believe that the most effective safety measures include: paying attention and being aware of your surroundings, apparatus positioning and advanced warning - apparatus/cones/flares/signs in place well before the incident to warn the approaching traffic. |
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Post by thelurker on Jan 13, 2009 0:50:35 GMT -5
At the risk of being "that guy," I can't believe we have 3 pages of back and forth about traffic vests, yet the Make The Calls get no attention anymore. Congratulations Jim... you are that guy!! |
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Post by thelurker on Jan 13, 2009 1:07:14 GMT -5
you sound offended. why? i agree with you! I wasn't offended, i was just pointing out that policy or not, here is the law. There are some of us that were raised to question everything. I usually will not argue right/wrong because there is always more than one way to skin a cat. However, I always want to know a person's reason for something. It helps me to get a grasp on the "intent of the law" which is usually more important than the "word of the law." Also, i have heard plenty of guys out there say, "I'm not wearing that stupid ass vest, on or off the highway." I was merely pointing out for those of us who like to say, "Why?" that it is not merely the safety nazi at your department making up some BS new rule, here is where the rule is rooted. To touch on something the other guys were saying about wearing it on top of your TO Coat all the time. It's a good idea, but do you wear your TO coat on every call? I like mine off the coat. I will add it if I need it, but I wear mine more often without the coat than with. |
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Post by WebBoss on Jan 13, 2009 10:45:41 GMT -5
To touch on something the other guys were saying about wearing it on top of your TO Coat all the time. It's a good idea, but do you wear your TO coat on every call? I like mine off the coat. I will add it if I need it, but I wear mine more often without the coat than with. I do wear my TO coat on every call just about. With the exception being when driving during the summer time. Now I may not wear it in the rig, but I don it when I get out. The oddity with me, is alot of times I wear bunker pants and no coat while driving, and TO coat but no pants while riding as the boss. (Unless we're going to a fire fire of course) I do see your point, maybe I'm just the exception. I know by wearing my TO coat, I'm A: More Visable, B: Easily Identified, and C: I have my work gloves and little pocket tools at easy reach. |
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17101
Forum Candidate
Posts: 6
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Post by 17101 on Jan 15, 2009 13:46:58 GMT -5
To touch on something the other guys were saying about wearing it on top of your TO Coat all the time. It's a good idea, but do you wear your TO coat on every call? I like mine off the coat. I will add it if I need it, but I wear mine more often without the coat than with. I do wear my TO coat on every call just about. With the exception being when driving during the summer time. Now I may not wear it in the rig, but I don it when I get out. The oddity with me, is alot of times I wear bunker pants and no coat while driving, and TO coat but no pants while riding as the boss. (Unless we're going to a fire fire of course) I do see your point, maybe I'm just the exception. I know by wearing my TO coat, I'm A: More Visable, B: Easily Identified, and C: I have my work gloves and little pocket tools at easy reach. Plus your PFD on alarm activations...right Sean |
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Post by voyager9 on Jan 15, 2009 16:14:07 GMT -5
The oddity with me, is alot of times I wear bunker pants and no coat while driving, and TO coat but no pants while riding as the boss. (Unless we're going to a fire fire of course) Real officers go commando... |
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Post by WebBoss on Jan 16, 2009 7:37:42 GMT -5
I do wear my TO coat on every call just about. With the exception being when driving during the summer time. Now I may not wear it in the rig, but I don it when I get out. The oddity with me, is alot of times I wear bunker pants and no coat while driving, and TO coat but no pants while riding as the boss. (Unless we're going to a fire fire of course) I do see your point, maybe I'm just the exception. I know by wearing my TO coat, I'm A: More Visable, B: Easily Identified, and C: I have my work gloves and little pocket tools at easy reach. Plus your PFD on alarm activations...right Sean YES!!!!! Damn I all but forgot about that... Good times. Poor Steve was PISSED... and Kate couldn't even get off the truck cause she was laughing too much. |
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Post by WebBoss on Jan 16, 2009 7:44:58 GMT -5
The oddity with me, is alot of times I wear bunker pants and no coat while driving, and TO coat but no pants while riding as the boss. (Unless we're going to a fire fire of course) Real officers go commando... I hear that... and don't tempt me. Someone had asked, and now the message is gone, but a simple answer why is that I'm not really sure. I may not have been as clear as I should have been when I made that statement, but I have some reasons. Just to be clear though, when I'm essential to the crew I am 100% dressed out and ready to go. If I'm riding the piece and taking a command role, then I'm somewhat dressed down for comfort. I'll be honest, and I'm working on this as we speak, it's a damn tight fit in the front right of the rig with bunkers on.  At the same time, this does also have a way helping me to stand back and see the big picture. Those who work with me routinely know I suffer from moth to flame disease and for whatever reasons, this little quark of mine has helped me stand back and take in the big picture when I'm supposed to be. Enough about me though, let's get back to our regularly schduled programming. |
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