An interesting article this (Saturday) evening in The Washington Post looks at the steps Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department leaders are considering in reaction to the shootings of firefighters John Ulmschneider and Kevin Swain on April 15. Ulmschneider died from his wounds and Swain was seriously injured.
Top Prince George’s County officials are considering bulletproof vests, survival-skill seminars and protocol changes for answering welfare checks as the county reviews firefighter safety in the wake of its most recent line-of-duty death.
A little more than a month after county firefighter John Ulmschneider was fatally shot while answering a 911 call, Fire Chief Marc S. Bashoor announced some possible changes in a department-wide memo. The memo also included a reminder of the department’s general rules on when firefighters should break into a home if there are no police present.
Firefighter Kevin Swain
Bashoor has reiterated several times that the firefighters who responded the evening of April 15, when Ulmschneider died, did “everything right” and that there was no “one thing” that would have prompted him to do anything different.
“There is, however, the opportunity to learn and improve from every event, every tragedy, and every call for assistance,” Bashoor said.
