Let’s Make Things Safer for Emergency Responders
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of EMS encourages the EMS community to recognize Crash Responder Safety Week, observed this year November 8-14. Because emergency responders—police, fire, EMS, and towing—risk being killed or injured by passing vehicles when responding to a roadside emergency, Crash Responder Safety Week was established with the common goal of teaching emergency responders, drivers, and passengers how to play their part in ensuring safe responses at roadway incident scenes.
NHTSA’s Office of EMS urges emergency response agencies to take advantage of Crash Responder Safety Week to raise awareness—on the part of agencies, providers, and the public—about the risk of secondary incidents and how they increase the longer responders must remain at the scene.
Use the hashtag #CRSW when posting on social media about your emergency responder safety activities. This year, each day of Crash Responder Safety Week has a unique theme:
- Monday, Nov. 8 – Governor’s Proclamations or Multiagency Press Release
- Tuesday, Nov. 9 – Slow Down, Move Over
- Wednesday, Nov. 10 – Responder Training
- Thursday, Nov. 11 – Honoring Veterans
- Friday, Nov. 12 – Recognizing Responders
- Saturday, Nov. 13 – Traffic Incident Awareness
- Sunday, Nov. 14 – Driver Education
To learn more about Crash Responder Safety Week, strategies for engaging the community, and best practices to keep responders safe at crash scenes, visit the National Operations Center of Excellence’s Crash Response Safety Week website.
