Lincoln Fire and Rescue officials are considering equipping their emergency crews with body armor as other fire departments across the country do the same.
Fire Chief Micheal Despain said the department is researching ballistic protection in hopes of one day acquiring vests and helmets for every firefighter to have on-hand for an active shooter response.
More fire departments are joining their law enforcement counterparts in buying bulletproof vests, according to manufacturers.
"You never thought ambulance teams or medic teams would even need to wear body armor," Shawn Mayfield of Point Blank Enterprises said at a vest demonstration in Lincoln on Thursday. "But I guess that's the way things are going."
Firefighters in Little Rock, Arkansas, don bulletproof vests after a medic was shot and killed while helping a man coming out of a drug-induced seizure in 2016, according news reports.
People are also reading…
In Ohio, a department recently acquired the vests in case of an active shooter.
In Despain's fire service career in Fresno, California, he saw the need for protection for EMTs, paramedics and firefighters.
Fresno firefighters wore them for three years in the 1990s when crime was so bad some parts of the city were essentially lawless, he said.
"Fire engines were driving around there with bullet holes in them,†Despain said.
Lincoln fire captain and paramedic Rick Schneider is among those in Lincoln researching the issue.
He was among the attendees at a ballistic vest demonstration at the Lincoln Police Department's shooting range Thursday morning.
News of paramedics killed or injured on the job gives Schneider pause, considering sometimes a routine medical call can turn hazardous.
Neither Schneider nor Despain knows of any recent stabbing or shootings involving Lincoln's emergency medical crews.Â
But close calls are more common than Schneider would like.
"We're seeing more and more weapons out there," he said, noting that several paramedics have been assaulted.
He doesn't believe crews would wear the vests and helmets on every call, but they'd be on-hand for when they're needed, he said.Â
"At least it would be a tool in the toolbox," the 21-year veteran said.
Teamwork among medical crews with police helps minimize the threat to EMTs and paramedics in Lincoln as they tend to the injured, he said.
Lincoln Fire and Rescue has trained with area law enforcement to prepare for active-shooter situations, and the department has purchased bulletproof medical bags to provide some protection for crews if a situation ever arose, Despain said.
The chief understands that's less than ideal for his medical crews, who need their hands to help those who are hurt.
But ballistic vests must be weighed against other occupational hazards for his crews, he said.Â
The department received grant money for carbon monoxide detectors that attach to their medical bags, and one of them recently went off during a medical call and helped prevent further injury to the people living in the home, he said.
Ballistic vests are only covered under warranty for a fixed number of years, and after that, the city would assume all liability if one failed to work and someone was injured or killed, he said.
And for now, the funding for this project isn't there, Despain said.
The department recently projected the costs of the vests at $800 per firefighter, which would be more than $200,000 for the department of about 250 firefighters.
The vests aren't a top priority for the department, which has been working to replace its aging, ailing fleet of fire rigs, the chief said. New fire engines cost upward of $450,000 each.
"We need 11 fire engines yesterday," Despain said. "We won’t be able to go to the (active shooter) incident if we don’t get that solved over time."