Some other local fire departments, including Trotwood, Vandalia, Dayton and Brookville are part of the regional Rescue Task Force which is designed to address active shooter situations and makes body armor available in those cases.
The task force has about two dozen caches of body armor stationed around the region, said David Gerstner, Metropolitan Medical Response System Program Manager for Dayton Fire Department. Each cache includes enough equipment for four people.
The body armor and other equipment was purchased with a federal grant from the Department of Homeland Security.
“We’re concerned about the unknown stuff…Sometimes we don’t know what the problem is,” said Harrison Township Fire Battalion Chief Sean McNeil. “There are times that even though a scene is secure, there could also be a second shooting that occurs.”
McNeil wears bulletproof armor when called to violent scenes that include shootings and stabbings. His family gave him the equipment as a gift. He is searching for grant funding to pay for bulletproof armor for the township fire department.
“There have been places in different parts of the country where they have actually shot at the firefighters. So, I think it’s one of those things where it’s better safe than sorry,” McNeil said.
There have been no reported cases of violent attacks on local EMS personnel, but there have been some national incidents.
John Mikula, a member of the Polk County SWAT medic team in Florida was shot by a suspect after being called to a standoff earlier this year. Mikula, who survived the shooting, was wearing ballistic padding.
In 2012, a paramedic was shot in the arm in Fort Wayne, Ind. by a 24-year-old man who authorities said was shooting at an ambulance and a vehicle following behind it. The ambulance was transporting a man who had been stabbed at a nightclub.
William Shaw, president of the Ohio Fire Chiefs’ Association in Worthington and Solon Fire Chief, said EMS personnel wearing bulletproof armor is becoming a trend based on feedback he has received from association members.
“We’re finding our EMS personnel and firefighting personnel who deliver EMS are more frequently being involved in violent situations,” Shaw said.
Solon EMS personnel do not wear bulletproof body armor, but will soon have body armor available for active shooter incidents, Shaw said.
The Vandalia Fire Department also has its own bulletproof armor.
“Our body armor was purchased by the city as a part of a protective clothing capital improvement budget project in 2013,” said Vandalia Fire Chief Chad Follick. The city paid $8,400 for 14 sets, he said.
Trotwood Fire Chief Stephen Milliken said the only way Trotwood’s fire department would be able to obtain its own bulletproof armor would be through grant funding. “We’re like everyone else. Our budgets are challenged and luckily we’ve never had the situation where any of our folks have been in danger that way. Our police department does a very good job of securing scenes,” he said.
If Trotwood’s EMS personnel want to purchase their own bulletproof armor and wear it while at work, it would allowed, Milliken said. “That would only make sense if they chose to buy their own. As long as it met a certain criteria,” he said.
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