Sobering Video

[IrishJoe3]

Not gun related, but a good safety reminder when responding to a "routine" traffic collision....be safe out there!

Haz-Mat incident, Anhydrous Ammonia:

[center_x]

I just took a hazmat class regarding situations like this. Crazy how fast it happens.

[Steveo8]

And that is some very nasty stuff!!

[trendar5]

Another good man killed by a lazy, negligent dispatcher.

[IrishJoe3]

Another good man killed by a lazy, negligent dispatcher.

Strong words there...Dispatchers can only work with what they are told by the 911 caller, and unfortunatly the 911 callers are very frequently wrong in the information they give. If that dispatcher had any idea it was a hazmat spill and not a car fire, they would have said something. Even the officer arrving on the scene thought it was a car fire, (as he advised the dispatcher).

I DO NOT envy dispatchers, thats a hard job.

For my department, our dispatchers activly use six seperate compter monitors, answer 911 calls, all while dispatching and answering everything for a very busy area. Lazy? hardly...

[Larker]

He shouldn't have ran into that stuff to begin with, but he could have at the very least attempted to cover his face with a wet towel, or something...

It's actually situations similar to this is why the Army sill issues and trains on MOPP gear.

It's sad to see something avoidable like that happen, and worst part is he didn't help anybody. I'll definitely be showing this video to my Joes.

[trendar5]

Strong words there...Dispatchers can only work with what they are told by the 911 caller, and unfortunatly the 911 callers are very frequently wrong in the information they give. If that dispatcher had any idea it was a hazmat spill and not a car fire, they would have said something. Even the officer arrving on the scene thought it was a car fire, (as he advised the dispatcher).

I DO NOT envy dispatchers, thats a hard job.

For my department, our dispatchers activly use six seperate compter monitors, answer 911 calls, all while dispatching and answering everything for a very busy area. Lazy? hardly...

The video text that pops up states that the firefighters were told it was an ammonia spill, but not the deputy.

[joefreas]

Watching that made my heart hurt.

[IrishJoe3]

The video text that pops up states that the firefighters were told it was an ammonia spill, but not the deputy.

I think you're talking about this :

The officer was responding to a two vehicle crash in rural road in southern Illinois. No other information was available to the officer at that time. The responding fire department and ambulance were made aware that there was a potential anhydrous ammonia spill.

Local fire has a different dispatcher than the state patrol, and communication between the two agency dispatchers takes time. We don't know when fire/ambulance was told, the reality is they may not have even found out till they rolled up on scene. I would not be so quick to call the dispatchers lazy.

I posted the video for informational reasons, lets try and not monday morning quarterback the officer or dispatchers.

[AAShooter]

Watching that made my heart hurt.

Well stated.

[Diabolus]

Just goes to show you how an initial call can set your expectations of an event. When the Officer fixated on the body in the middle of the road he did what he was trained for, but didn't realize the situation was far more dangerous than the initial report from dispatch.

Very sad video.

[ilikeguns]

Watching that made my heart hurt.

Ya. The real thing is very dark. Everyone please be careful out there.

[nobody33]

I spent about 30 minutes looking for more information on this incident, and came to the conclusion that it is only a training video. I could not find any record of any police officer ever dying from ammonia exposure.... ODMP has about 40 officers dying from toxic gasses though. I did not see any from ammonia specifically. However there are numerous officers treated and exposed from situations like this.. so it is good training.

I had no idea how dangerous CBP officers have it while inspecting some ships.. I saw two that died from gasses in cargo holds.

[Doheny]

I spent about 30 minutes looking for more information on this incident, and came to the conclusion that it is only a training video. I could not find any record of any police officer ever dying from ammonia exposure.... ODMP has about 40 officers dying from toxic gasses though. I did not see any from ammonia specifically. However there are numerous officers treated and exposed from situations like this.. so it is good training.

I had no idea how dangerous CBP officers have it while inspecting some ships.. I saw two that died from gasses in cargo holds.

I also went looking for the same.

I too have to wonder if it's a training video. The reason I believe so is that frankly, the FD's actions looked too good and too polished and went too smoothly even considering they knew what they were heading into (FWIW, I've been a fire captain for 20 years.)

Ideally, entry into a Haz Mat situation is slow and deliberate, even when there are victims (no reason to add to the body count.)

Regardless, it did sent a chill up my spine.

[Samuelx]

Thanks Joe - will be passing that along...