Good morning,

       Thought this would be of interest to everyone. I am still waiting for an answer from SHA as to which roads in the county are "federal-aid."

       One of the many interesting points:

             Exceptions for Emergency Responders

Due to "comments from State and local police, national police organizations, and State DOTs" the original publishment in the federal register includes exceptions for law enforcement officers working in potentially adversarial or confrontational roles. This includes traffic stops and searches. Officers are still required under 23 CFR 634 to wear high-visibility clothing during other times, such as "directing traffic, investigating crashes, and handling lane closures, obstructed roadways, and disasters within the right-of-way of a Federal-aid highway." (The language for this exception can be found in the 2nd column of page 67797 of the publication in the Federal Register Vol. 71, No 226 which can be downloaded using the link below)

 Currently no such exception exists for firefighters. Some fire service personnel have expressed concern about the idea of adding a layer of potentially flammable material between their turnout gear and SCBA while battling car fires or during an extrication. Because those views were not expressed during the comment period of 23 CFR 634 no exceptions or interpretations for fire service operations were published along with the rule. Further, all fire department personnel should be aware that turnout gear alone does not meet the visibility requirement. No turnout gear currently manufactured meets the color requirement for the fluorescent background material of these high-visibility garments. Even if turnout gear could be dyed to meet the color standard when manufactured, it would no longer be compliant after the first exposure to fire, smoke, and soot. Fire departments should consider fire resistance of materials (and their limitations) as part of their criteria for selecting vests and writing department protocols and procedures.

 Regards,

 Ed Stoner

 Lt. Edward (Ed) Stoner

Homeland Security Lieutenant

Queen Anne's County Department of Emergency Services

Emergency Management Division

100 Communications Drive

Centreville , Md. 21617

Office - 410-758-4500 Ext. 1115

Fax - 410-758-2086

Cell - 443-496-0212

Text Messaging - 4434960212@vtext.com

 rom: Responder Knowledge Base [mailto:rkbnews@rkb.us]
Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2008 4:47 AM
To: Ed Stoner
Subject: [RKB] Responder Knowledge Base User Notice
Importance: High

 Please note the following news item(s) from the Responder Knowledge Base:

 =========================================

 Federal Government Begins Mandating High-Visibility Vests for Emergency Responders:

 On November 24 2008, a new federal regulation (23 CFR 634) goes into effect mandating that anyone working in the right-of-way of a federal-aid highway must be wearing high-visibility clothing that meets the requirements of ANSI / ISEA 107; 2004 edition class 2 or 3. 

 This requirement will apply to all emergency responders.

 There is further information on the Responder Knowledge Base website including links to download some of the relevant documents, information concerning ANSI / ISEA 207 Public Safety Vests, certain exceptions for police officers, and information about proposed rules changes to later expand the law to cover all public roadways.

 An extensive write-up of the issues involved can be found at the following URL:

https://www.rkb.us/contentdetail.cfm?content_id=200647

 The additional information can also be accessed by searching for "23CFR634" using the keyword search box on every page of the Responder Knowledge Base.

 https://www.rkb.us/contentdetail.cfm?content_id=197344