Missouri Vols See Four Fatal Accidents in a Weekend

Sept. 16--A fatal accident can be hard for emergency responders to cope with, even though they're trained to deal with them.

Four fatal accidents in a short span, as happened over the weekend, can be even harder, despite a "thicker skin" developed over the years by law enforcement and the fire and EMS personnel who respond to such incidents.

"In the fire service, the men and women tend to have a thicker skin and a bigger sense of being invincible, so you may or may not see it in the firehouse," said Andrew Doyle, spokesman for Joppa-Magnolia Volunteer Fire Company, which handled all four fatal accidents between Friday evening and early Sunday morning.

Thicker skin or not, police and EMS have to put on a professional face when they respond to calls.

"My heart goes out to the families, but also, I am concerned for the officers who investigate those types of accidents," Harford County Sheriff Jesse Bane said. "You can only take so much of that without it having an impact on you."

'We Inoculate Ourselves'

A cluster of deadly incidents like the weekend's, however, may not necessarily be as traumatic as a slower stream of seemingly less intense events that add up in a more insidious way, Sheriff's Office Lt. Marc Junkerman said.

He has led the critical incident stress management team, or CISM, since about 2008. Junkerman said first responders can be overwhelmed by situations for a number of reasons.

"Maybe there is an incident that involves a child. Maybe there is an incident that is very high-profile. Maybe there is something that just triggers something in the past," he explained.

"A lot of things that are tragic are things that we train for and things we inoculate ourselves for," he said. "A lot of what we deal with is just the cumulative stress of the job."

The stress management team consists of about 10 deputies and three mental health professionals, one of whom works internally, Junkerman said.

The group had more than 400 contacts last year, he said. A contact can be anything from a phone call to a counseling session.

Junkerman said some people use the team's services "just want to vent," while others need affirmation that their feelings are normal. Others also take advantage of peer-to-peer counseling, clinicians and a fitness program, such as a partnership with Healthy Harford.

"What we are starting to understand is, it's a mind-body health thing," he said.

The suddenness of having to deal with four fatal accidents in a relatively short period had not noticeably affected the firehouse atmosphere, Doyle said Sunday. Firefighters and EMS personnel know what they could be facing when they respond to any call.

"We pride ourselves on promptly responding to any requests for service," Doyle said. "We believe that our company is extremely prepared to handle any and all accidents that come to our door."

The company makes "critical de-briefing" available to firefighters who may be overwhelmed by the accidents, Doyle explained. He did not, however, want to say if anyone may have used that service following the weekend accidents.

"This is not a good weekend for Harford County roadways," he said. "Our company stands behind our members, and our members' well-being is paramount."

Stress of the Job

Bane said incidents like last weekend's add to the stress that comes with being a law enforcement official.

He pointed out the stress comes not only from being at the scene of a grisly accident, but also from the emotional toll of informing a family of the death.

The stress takes its toll not just in the short term, but through health problems in the long run, he said.

"We have very high suicide rates. Many of us go out with hypertension. We have high divorce rates," Bane said of first responders, noting those issues don't end with retirement.

"Every deputy thinks he is going to enjoy his golden years, but his job won't allow him to do that."

'We Share Some Responsibility'

Bane, who has led a Traffic Safety Advisory Board and helped oversee a countywide traffic task force, seemed frustrated by the deadly weekend.

"I am thankful that we don't have this all the time, and it's very discouraging when we are putting as much resources into reducing crashes to have something like this happen," Bane said somberly during an interview in his office Tuesday.

He said the county's traffic task force and safety advisory board are making progress toward their goal of reducing fatalities, but was unhappy to learn of the recent crashes.

"We share some of the responsibility because we weren't able to prevent something like this from happening," he said, adding his office likes to think all the educational and preventive efforts would make a difference.

"It kind of shakes the foundations," Bane said of the weekend. "Our job is to save lives and protect people."

"You do feel some sense of responsibility, like, is there something we have to do?" he said.

Infrastructure Improvements

Harford County experienced 31 traffic fatalities in 2012, including two accidents that killed three people, and local police agencies joined with county officials to create the traffic task force and safety advisory board to confront the problem by looking at road conditions, as well as driver habits and new safety enforcement initiatives.

The number of deaths fell sharply to 21 last year, a figure which was the lowest since 2008 when 21 deaths also were recorded.

This year started out relatively safe, with just eight deaths through the end of July. Since Aug. 3, however, seven people have died in barely six weeks. Last weekend's four deaths were the most in a month since six people died in November 2012.

The two deaths on Route 152 Friday were the first on that highway since December 2012. Five people died in Route 152 accidents in 2012, including two in a single accident.

Doyle said Joppa-Magnolia recommended a changed traffic pattern at the intersection of Routes 7 and 152 in Joppa after responding to several accidents at that location.

The State Highway Administration agreed to eventually make changes to allow vehicles to more safely turn left from Route 152 onto Route 7, according to a letter sent this spring to the fire company.

Two exclusive left-turn arrows for drivers going either south or north on Route 152, toward Route 7, should be implemented this winter, SHA spokesman Charlie Gischlar said. He estimates the changes will cost $10,000.

Bane added that a lag in road improvements and revised traffic patterns are major factors in Harford's battle with death on the roads.

"This issue with what occurred over the weekend is only an indication of how serious the traffic issue is in Harford County," he said.

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