2023 Year End ReportStruckBy.Com and Action Steps for 2024

Two years ago this month, the Emergency Responder Safety Institute launched ReportStruckBy.com, the only national database dedicated to collecting data about incidents where an emergency responder or emergency vehicle were struck by a vehicle while working at a roadway incident scene. We’ve received over 275 incident reports with detailed data about each incident. It’s a great start, but we know there are more incidents that have not yet been reported and that new incidents happen every day. We need your help to increase reporting to the database so our analysis of the reports truly reflects what is happening in the field.

The ERSI is asking all emergency responder and their agencies to share this article so more responders will be aware of ReportStruckBy.com and motivated to report incidents no matter when they happened. Did you know:

  • Anyone can report a struck-by incident to the database.
  • You can report any vehicle struck-by incident, no matter how long ago it occurred.
  • Reporting takes only 3-4 minutes.
  • You only need to fill in as much information as you have.
  • You can file a report from your phone or tablet.
  • Reporting is anonymous unless you choose to share a contact email for follow-up.
  • Our subject matter experts read every report.
  • We periodically analyze the reports and release our findings. You can find our first analysis, which identifies trends in the reports, on ResponderSafety.com.
  • Nineteen major national organizations support ReportStruckBy.com, including the Federal Highway Administration, the United States Fire Administration, the International Association of Fire Fighters, the National Volunteer Fire Council, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Institute of Transportation Engineers, the Towing and Recovery Association of America, the National Transportation Safety Board, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, and the National EMS Management Association.

In 2024, the ERSI will undertake additional analysis of the reports the database has received. We’re looking forward to making our findings public later in the year.

As we close out 2023, forty-five emergency responders have been struck and killed by a vehicle while working a roadway incident scene this year: 14 law enforcement officers, 8 fire/EMS, 20 tow operators, 0 road service technicians, and 3 DOT/SSP. Let’s redouble our responder safety and traffic incident management efforts to prevent any more fatalities this year. We’ve got a new Roadway Incident Safety for Emergency Responders Quick Start Resource to help you get started.

In the last five years (2019-2023), 251 emergency responders were hit and killed by a vehicle while just doing their job helping others. This is not a number. These were 251 beloved people whose deaths left an irreparable tear in their families, departments, and communities. You can see them in ResponderSafety.com’s Faces of the Fallen tribute videos and learn their names and the basics of each incident in our fatality report data spreadsheets. We owe it to their legacy to do all we can to prevent struck-by incidents. Reporting all incidents where a vehicle struck a responder or an emergency vehicle to ReportStruckBy.com is the only way we can collect the data we need to understand the trends and patterns in how and why responders are struck and devise training, public education, operational procedures, and equipment solutions to reduce the struck-by LODD number to zero. Our goal in 2024 is to double the number of reports we have. Please be a part of this effort — and a part of the solution — to save emergency responder lives, maybe even your own.

ReportStruckBy.com

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