Half-Million Emergency Responders Finish FHWA’s ‘Traffic Incident Management’ Training |
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Federal Highway Administration
24 March 2021
FHWA 07-21
Contact: Nancy Singer
Tel.: (202) 366-0660
WASHINGTON – Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) officials announced today that 500,000 emergency responders have completed the specialized National Traffic Incident Management (TIM) Responder Training. This milestone reflects nearly a decade of efforts to improve safety for those on the scene at roadway crashes and represents the agency’s continued progress toward its goal of training one million first responders.
“Enhanced training and preparedness can save lives,” said Acting Federal Highway Administrator Stephanie Pollack. “This training is especially critical given that every day responders are at risk of being struck and killed or injured in the line of duty.”
One of the leading causes of death and injury for emergency responders is being struck by other vehicles while responding to roadway incidents. Teaching first responders – including highway patrol officers, fire and rescue, ambulance and EMT personnel, and tow-truck operators – how to protect themselves while helping others is a continuing priority because of their high-risk jobs.
The National TIM Responder Training helps responders reduce their risk while managing and clearing roadway crashes. The free, half-day course addresses roadway incident responses and provides best practices for emergency responders to safely and quickly clear crash scenes.
“Training 500,000 people is an impressive achievement, but our work is not yet done,” Pollack added. “America’s road system needs another half-million properly trained emergency responders.”
The National TIM Responder Training was developed in partnership with law enforcement, fire and rescue, emergency medical service, towing, transportation, public works, and other responder communities across the nation.
TIM training has reaped big rewards. For example, following their training in 2018, Houston Fire Department responders reduced crash scene time by 40 percent, and saw a 25 percent reduction in fire apparatus struck at incident scenes.
The FHWA offers the National TIM Responder Training for free to responders in every state, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. For more information, visit the FHWA TIM Responder Training site.