Protect Those Who Protect You – Promoting safety on our roadways

This is Crash Responder Safety Week and this year’s theme is Protect Those who Protect You! It is everyone’s responsibility to be safe on our roadways and our first responders are dedicated to that mission.

Every minute of every day, law enforcement, fire and rescue, emergency medical services, public works, transportation, towing, and other responders work to make roadways safe for all road users. These traffic incident responders put their lives at risk when clearing each of the nearly 7 million motor vehicle crashes that occur in the U.S. each year.

In 2022, the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) recorded 119,991 traffic-related crashes, 37,056 (30.8%) of which were crashes resulting in injury or death.

Arizona’s EMS providers placed themselves at risk of being struck and injured or killed while rendering assistance at each crash. From 2017 to September 2023, 10 Arizona highway incident responders were struck and killed by vehicles, with two occurring while the responder was off-duty. For more information on struck-by fatality data, please visit the Responder Safety Institute Struck-By Database.

The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) certifies more than 2,500 new Arizona EMS providers each year. We and EMS providers need your help to ensure providers are safe while they’re on the job.

Arizona motorists can protect those who protect you by changing lanes or slowing down when you see flashing lights. Driving while distracted, impaired, and under other conditions that impact responsible driving risks the safety of everyone on the road, including our highway incident responders.

First responders can also help better protect themselves from traffic accidents with free training from ADHS. The Bureau of EMS & Trauma System offers Arizona first responders a FREE four-hour Traffic Incident Management (TIM) course.

TIM training teaches first responders how to work under a unified command structure, reducing their risk of being struck, injured or killed while assisting at highway incidents. For more information on TIM training and how to become a TIM instructor, please contact Dr. David Harden at [email protected].

ADHS thanks all Arizona first responders for protecting the millions of Arizona residents and visitors who use our roads each day.

By Rachel Garcia|2023-11-15T16:50:21-07:00November 15th, 2023|General|Comments Off

About the Author: Rachel Garcia

Rachel Garcia, MPH, MCHES is the Deputy Assistant Director of Preparedness, Chief of Emergency Medical Service (EMS) and Trauma, and Principal Investigator for the CDC Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity (ELC) Program at the Arizona Department of Health Services. Rachel is an Arizona native and humble public servant who has served in various public health leadership roles in state and local government for more than 15 years. In her current role, she is responsible for overseeing several programs including the ADHS Bureau of EMS and Trauma System, which coordinates, establishes, and administers Arizona’s statewide system of emergency medical services, trauma care, and registry systems. She previously served as the Deputy Chief of Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response and has assisted with multiple Health Emergency Operations Center responses at ADHS. Before joining the ADHS team, she was an Assistant Director of Public Health in Pinal county, where she oversaw Community and Correctional Health programs. She also served in multiple public health research and community outreach positions at the University of Arizona in Tucson, where she earned her Master of Public Health and Bachelor of Science degrees and completed Susan G. Komen and National Science Foundation fellowships. Rachel is a proud wife and mother of three, who is passionate about education and data-driven public health policies that can improve health for the next generations of Arizonans.