Backup Cameras & Video Recording System
The Cheyenne County EMS was awarded a Cheyenne County Hansen Community Grant of $3,321.25 in 2017.
Cheyenne County Ambulance currently owns and operates 4 ambulances and a response pickup. The county is also adding a public transportation van (Ford Transit 12-passenger) to the fleet of public service vehicles in March 2017.
There is a great risk of accidents, both of causing injury to persons or property, when backing up due to limited visibility of the area behind the vehicle. According to national statistics on backing accidents, it is something that drivers need to pay very close attention to from a risk management / loss control standpoint. Research from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in August 2015 states that each year there are at least 500,000 backing accidents with 15,000 of those including some sort of injury. Approximately 210 people are killed annually from backing accidents. They estimate the average property damage caused by backing accidents to be $7,400 per event.
Cheyenne County understands the importance of training drivers on best practices for safety including backing processes. While our best practice for drivers is to avoid backing up when at all possible, there are times in which backing up is still necessary. Our procedures include having a second person as a spotter when backing up and if necessary, the driver will exit the vehicle to access conditions as well.
Installing backup cameras is a highly recommended long-term solution to add even more safety for risk management to avoid accidents. Cheyenne County proposes to add backup cameras to the two primary ambulances, the frequently dispatched first responder pickup, and the new public transportation Ford Transit Van.
In addition to the backup cameras, we will be adding a dual-vision recorder to the Ford Transit Van. This device provides a camera that can continuously record events in front of the vehicle as well as events on-board. It has the ability to identify unsafe driving behavior and is capable of providing instant driver feedback when events occur.
The technology is the equivalent of having a safety expert sitting side by side with drivers and training them on safe practices that result in behavioral changes and fewer incidents or collisions. It can also provide viable evidence in the event of accidents to research fault. In the event that circumstantial evidence points fault to a driver, but the actual course of events which are recorded clearly show fault is not of the driver, it can result in lessened insurance claims and avoiding mistaken liability claims.
Cheyenne County received $2,000 from the KCAMP Risk Avoidance Grant Program. Also, the board of commission has authorized $449.07 be paid from the Ambulance budget to help purchase the hardware. This grant through the Cheyenne County EMS Auxiliary would pay for the installation of the devices by the local Ford dealer.
