Proper Emergency Procedures and Planning Show Safety Is No Accident

• A.J. Heightman, MPA, EMT-P, Editor-in-Chief, JEMS
• From the Editor
• 2009 Jan 16

With reference to Thursday's New York City Hudson River airline incident in New York City, Billy Goldfeder, Editor-in-Chief of FirefighterCloseCalls.com, points out the similarities between the airline industry and firefighter and EMS safety, health and survival. A recent example is the National FF Near Miss Reporting System (www.firefighternearmiss.com). When the program was put together, some of the best known airline industry safety experts helped in its development. Prominent airline safety experts Dr. Robert Helmreich, University of Texas-Austin; NASA's Linda Connell, Director of the Aviation Safety Reporting System; Chris Hart, Assistant Administrator of FAA Safety; and Tom Phillips, Air Line Pilots Association, all provided their expertise to the fire service.

Most emergency responders now know that 30-year veteran US Airways Pilot Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger was at the controls of Flight 1549 Thursday afternoon and did a masterful job of gliding over the massive George Washington Bridge and performing a controlled landing in the Hudson River between Manhattan Island and the New Jersey shoreline.

But what Goldfeder points out is that Sullenberger's "side job" is being a consultant in risk management that focuses on the risks that he, and all pilots, co-pilots and flight attendants, encounter each day in the performance of their duties. Their job is to think ahead -- to plan and prevent bad things from happening. This is the same job that EMS crew chiefs, supervisors, firefighters, fire officers and chief fire officers have at varied levels but deal with daily.

Goldfeder points out that Captain Sullenberger was a USAF fighter pilot, has served as an instructor and Air Line Pilots Association safety chairman, accident investigator, and national technical committee member. He has participated in several USAF and NTSB accident investigations. His safety work has led to the development of FAA policies.

Sullenberger also co-authored a paper on error-inducing contexts in aviation. His passion for risk management paid off for many this week, including those on the ground, who could have been where that plane might have ended up.

Captain "Sully" Sullenberger is, and has been, focusing on what might go wrong and what policies, training and leadership can be applied to minimize the risk. He is dedicated to minimizing the unnecessary "bad stuff" that could happen to him, his crew and those he is responsible to and for.

The most interesting information presented by Goldfeder is that Captain Sullenberger was a leader in the development and implementation of the Crew Resource Management (CRM) course used by the airlines and now used by many in the fire service. Download a copy of this document and see how you can easily adapt it to use in your agency.

"Sully" has shown us that he not only has true grit, but that proactive preparation, solid risk management and crew resourse management can, and does, save lives.

Related Links

• Article by A.J. about the early reports of the rescue efforts.
• Article by A.J. about NYPD, Coast Guard and FDNY boats.
• Photos, video and discussions related to this incident (on JEMS Connect).     

• Read more articles by A.J. Heightman

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• A.J. Heightman

  Editor-in-chief of JEMS A.J. Heightman is a former EMS director and EMS operations director who has researched and specialized in MCI management training for 30 years. Contact him via e-mail at a.j.heightman@elsevier.com.  

  Learn more from A.J. Heightman at the EMS Today Conference & Expo, March 2–6 in Baltimore.