posted on Feb, 6 2014 @ 06:59 PM
reply to post by flammadraco
Law Enforcement, not the Fire Department, are in charge of accident scenes (no matter how loudly Fire Departments complain about this). While they
discuss fire fighters arriving first, they do not hold total scene command. If they were meant to hold scene command for MVA's then the statutes would
dictate Fire Fighters, and not law enforcement, are required to complete an investigation and file a report.
With that being said....
As for the article I have no idea what CHiPs is thinking. The purpose of emergency vehicle placement is to notify traffic of an emergency situation
and to place that equipment in a manner that protects the scene itself. The only thing I can think of is the possibility that the section of road
this occurred on has limited sight distances / flawed design to the extent that the vehicle placement would cause more of a risk to the scene. The
other possibility is one of the driver's was intoxicated / under the influence. Its also possible the Fire department vehicles were parked in a
manner that obstructed the investigation (skid marks / debris / etc).
It could also be possible that the placement interfered with an ambulance coming to the scene or its placement prevented the ambulance from getting
close to the patients.
The other possibility, and I have seen this before with our State Patrol, is they were more concerned about the highway / Road being open. For some
reason they don't like it when there is a complete blockage of all lanes of travel.
Scene safety / patient care comes first.
Based on the article I am at a loss to understand the Officer's actions.
edit on 6-2-2014 by Xcathdra because: (no reason
given)
edit on 6-2-2014 by Xcathdra because: (no reason given)