Vests give extra protection for the fire, EMS first responders

Brian Stanley, left, a Brookfield firefighter and EMT, and Aaron Walker, a firefighter and paramedic, sport their new armored vests. The vests offer protection if they’re called to an active crime scene.

BROOKFIELD – Body armor isn't just for police officers.

Brookfield Fire and EMS is the latest group of first responders to add this equipment to its check list. But it isn't new to Brookfield Fire Chief David E. Masirovits.

He bought his own bullet-resistant vest when he became a firefighter in the early 1990s.

"It's something I thought I needed,’’ Masirovits said.

It's not like firefighters are likely to be involved in gunfights or facing knife-wielding assailants. But they sometimes arrive at violent scenes before the police do.

"We let police go in first to clear the scene,’’ Masirovits said.

He said armored vests can add adds a "just in case’’ safety factor for firefighters and ambulance teams when firefighters and police have to support each other at an emergency scene.

"This isn't a free pass where my people will go roaring into a violent shooting,’’ Masirovits said. "And I want people to know there are times where police are the only backups we have.’’

In emergencies when time can be the difference between life and death, firefighters and EMTs sometimes have to run into dangerous situation to treat a victim.

"We want to get to them as soon as possible to stop the bleeding,’’ Masirovits said. "If someone is bleeding out, they could die.’’

Brian Stanley, a Brookfield firefighter and EMT, prepares to don his new armored vest. The Brookfield Fire Department recently got the vests to protect its crews if they're called into an active crime scene.

The department will establish protocols for wearing vests.

Ballistic-resistant body armor, also called "bullet-proof’’ vests, has saved the lives of more than 3,000 police officers in the past three decades, according to the National Institute of Justice, a division of the U.S. Department of Justice. The agency has no statistics for injury prevention among firefighters or ambulance crews.

But emergency teams have come under fire.

In February, two Canton, Ohio, firefighter-paramedics were on board an ambulance when it was struck by gunfire during a domestic dispute, according to the city's police.

In July two EMTs and a fire captain were shot in Tuscon, Ariz., by a man in a shooting spree, Tuscon police said. A Washington, D.C., firefighter-EMT was shot in November as he tended to a shooting victim. The acting fire chief said several department members were saved by using the fire truck as protection.

Both firefighters recovered from their wounds.

As with other emergency gear, Brookfield firefighters are getting the vests, but hope they’ll never have to use them, Masirovits said.

"We never want our vests to be tested under action."

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