Toronto Fire Services Critical Injuries (PDF)

STANDARD OPERATING GUIDELINE CRITICAL INJURIES TO TORONTO FIRE SERVICES PERSONNEL OR THE PUBLIC Date Issued: March 28, 2023 Rescinds: September 1, 2020 Section: Safety and WSIB File Code: S-CRIT PURPOSE To provide all Toronto Fire Services personnel with a guideline for actions following a critical...

STANDARD OPERATING GUIDELINE CRITICAL INJURIES TO TORONTO FIRE SERVICES PERSONNEL OR THE PUBLIC Date Issued: March 28, 2023 Rescinds: September 1, 2020 Section: Safety and WSIB File Code: S-CRIT PURPOSE To provide all Toronto Fire Services personnel with a guideline for actions following a critical injury of on-duty TFS personnel or a member of the public. The purpose of the investigation is to establish the underlying causes and prevent a future occurrence. RESPONSIBILITY All personnel are responsible for understanding and following this guideline. The Officer in Charge is responsible for ensuring this guideline is understood and followed. Officers at the incident scene are responsible for ensuring that proper actions are taken to manage information and details of a firefighter critical injury and notifications are completed as outlined in this guideline. GUIDELINES 1. General Critically injured means an injury of a serious nature that: (a) places life in jeopardy, (b) produces unconsciousness, (c) results in substantial loss of blood, (d) involves the fracture of a leg or arm but not a finger or toe, (e) involves the amputation of a leg, arm, hand, or foot but not a finger or toe, (f) consists of burns to a major portion of the body, or (g) causes the loss of sight in an eye. Critical injury also includes the following: (a) Employees losing consciousness while at work as a result of underlying medical conditions, or other reasons unrelated to the workplace including heart attacks that occur while on duty or when an employee is being paid. (b) Fractures to: i. Ankle (bones of the foot). ii. Wrist (bones of the hand). iii. Kneecap (patella). File Code: S-CRIT Page 1 of 6  STANDARD OPERATING GUIDELINE iv. More than one finger v. More than one toe. (c) Amputation of: i. More than one finger ii. More than one toe The Officer in Charge shall notify the TFS Communication Centre. The Communication Centre should be notified via telephone if possible. The Communication Centre shall be advised of the following: (a) Name of the injured individual. (b) Assigned apparatus at time of injury. (c) Platoon. (d) Address where injury occurred. (e) Time of injury. (f) Supervising Officer. (g) Number of Toronto Paramedic Services unit. (h) Name and badge number of Police Officer. (i) Name of destination hospital if applicable. (j) Contact names and telephone numbers. For a critical injury to a member of TFS while on-duty, the Communications Centre shall immediately notify the following: (a) On-duty Platoon Chief or Division Chief (Support Divisions). (b) JHSC Labour Co-Chair/member or designate. (c) JHSC Management Co-Chair/member or designate (d) On Call Senior Officer The Platoon Chief shall do the following: (a) Confirm that the incident is a critical injury. (b) Ensure that Communications have contacted the: i. On-duty Division Commander/Chief (Support Divisions). ii. JHSC Labour Co-Chair/member or designate. iii. JHSC Management Co-Chair/member or designate. (c) Contact the Ministry of Labour (MOL) after consulting with Co-Chairs. (d) Determine if the MOL will be attending the scene. (e) Inform the Incident Commander or their designate if the MOL will be attending and releasing the scene. Note: The MOL investigator may not get back to us until the next working day in which case the PC can determine how long the scene will be held based upon circumstances (housing, business etc.). (f) Investigate the incident with the Local 3888 representative or designate. (g) Notify Occupational Health & Safety Manager & Consultant in the People, Equity & Human Rights Division (PEHR). File Code: S-CRIT Page 2 of 6  STANDARD OPERATING GUIDELINE (h) Compile ALL the requisite information for a critical injury report. (i) Forward this information to the Management Co-Chair or their designate for review and submission to the MOL. (j) Provide the Management Co-Chair with the name and telephone number of the MOL inspector. The Management and/or Labour Co-Chairs, or their designates will gather additional information from witnesses or generate preventative strategies. For a critical injury, the Platoon Chief or Division Chief shall verify the Communications Centre has notified those listed above and take whatever action is deemed necessary under the circumstances. The Platoon Chief shall notify the On-call Division Commander. 2. Safety and Scene Preservation The Incident Commander or Officer in Charge is responsible for ensuring the incident/discovery area is protected/restricted from access until transferred to the appropriate authority at the scene. The Officer/Supervisor in charge will ensure the scene is made safe for others and not disturbed until the investigation has been completed. The scene may be disturbed for the purpose of the following: (a) Saving life or relieving human suffering. (b) Maintaining an essential public service. (c) Preventing unnecessary damage to equipment or property. The scene can only be released by a Ministry of Labour Inspector. Unless given approval to release the scene, the Platoon Chief or his designate will be responsible for preserving the scene until formally released by the MOL. Note: The Platoon Chief will consult with the Co-Chairs before releasing the scene. When it is necessary to disturb the accident scene, photographs from every angle should be taken or the scene should be sketched before it is disturbed (if it is practical to do so). Before moving the equipment, mark locations with a piece of chalk. When this is not possible, the Officer(s)/Supervisor(s) should make a mental note about where everything relating to the accident was found, including the casualty’s position. After the casualty has been treated, sketch the layout and include information about the accident including, but not limited to the following: File Code: S-CRIT Page 3 of 6  STANDARD OPERATING GUIDELINE (a) Position of the equipment. (b) Position of the patient. All personnel involved in the critical injury shall have their PPE including SCBA bagged and held. The equipment shall not be cleaned or altered. The Central Joint Health and Safety Committee (CJHSC) Co-Chairs shall be made aware of where the gear is being held by the Platoon Chief. 3. Employee Injured and/or Hospitalized Any injured employee shall be treated to stabilize their condition as soon as possible. In the event an employee is being transported to a medical facility with an injury, a District Chief shall attend the hospital as soon as possible. In some cases, the Incident Commander may assign a fellow Firefighter the task of accompanying the patient/employee to the medical facility unless the Toronto Paramedic Services unit has two attendants in the patient compartment. Note: Employees attending the hospital must not be in their bunker gear. Whenever possible, the injured employee shall be consulted by the District Chief and her/his wishes as to the family notifications (who and when) should be respected. The Fire Chief or designate is responsible for ensuring a family member is notified of the injured party if the individual is unconscious or unable to make the call (refer to P-NOKI - Notification of Next of Kin of An Incapacitated Toronto Fire Services Employee). If circumstances suggest the injured person may succumb to their injuries, the Line of Duty Death protocol shall be engaged (refer to S-LODD - Line of Duty Death). 4. Civilian Critical Injury An Officer in Charge should activate the critical injury protocol for critical injuries to civilians as a result of any of the following: (a) As a result of any emergency operations. (b) While on TFS property. (c) As a result of any TFS actions (emergency or non-emergency). The Officer in Charge shall ensure activation of standard response protocols. When a critical injury occurs to a civilian because of a fire, in addition to other response protocols, the Incident Commander shall ensure notification of the on- File Code: S-CRIT Page 4 of 6  STANDARD OPERATING GUIDELINE duty TFS Fire Investigator. 5. Incident Investigation and Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development Report The incident shall be investigated by the CJHSC Co-Chairs. If further investigation is required, the Senior HR consultant Occupational Health and Safety will be requested to assist in gathering additional information, interview members and generate prevention strategies. Additional information will be added to the draft report and sent to the Management Co-Chair or his designate for final review and submission to the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development. The Management Co-Chair shall compile a written report for the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development and do the following; (a) Email the official report to the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development. (Mandatory as per OHSA) (b) Provide copies of the report to the following City employees; i. Worker Co-Chair JHSC (Mandatory as per OHSA) ii. People & Equity, Operational Occupational Health and Safety and Divisional Safety Consultant (Mandatory as per City Policy) iii. Corporate Occupational Health, Safety & Workers’ Compensation Unit (Mandatory as per City Policy) iv. Divisional Senior Management (Mandatory as per City Policy) 6. WSIB Reporting The employee's immediate supervising Officer shall complete, sign and submit a copy of the City of Toronto Supervisor's Report of Injury/Accident to the next level of Supervisor with a copy forwarded to the Human Resources Disability Management Consultant by email within 24 hours or the same working shift of the event. In training exercises, on or off-site, the Firefighter's immediate supervising Officer is responsible for completing City of Toronto Supervisor's Report of Injury/Accident in a timely fashion, not the Associate Training Instructor (ATI). The District Chief in charge of the training program where the member was injured shall be informed of all injuries and incidents immediately. The ATI in charge of the training event may be a witness to the injury. 7. Media The name of injured TFS personnel shall not be given out to any news media by TFS personnel until approved by the Fire Chief or their designate. All media enquiries pertaining to injured TFS personnel shall be referred to the Senior Officer who shall only release information as approved by the Fire Chief or File Code: S-CRIT Page 5 of 6  STANDARD OPERATING GUIDELINE their designate. All post-incident media enquiries pertaining to injured TFS personnel shall be referred to the following: Public Information Office (PIO) Toronto Fire Services Headquarters 4330 Dufferin Street, 1st Floor Toronto ON M3H 5R9 Tel: (416) 338-9050 Fax: (416) 338-9527 [email protected] ATTACHMENT(S) Critical Injuries Report RELATED SOGS S-LODD - Line of Duty Death P-NOKI - Notification of Next of Kin of An Incapacitated Toronto Fire Services Employee S-ACCI - Accidents in The Workplace (Non-Vehicular) File Code: S-CRIT Page 6 of 6