Anyone care to hazard a guess why numerous civilians were allowed very close to the turd tanker while a creditialed member of the media who has been a long time supporter of the fire services was not allowed access to the scene?

What a smelly mess! Luckily the tank wasn't full.
As far as not letting Action News Guy up to the scene, I was not in charge but I will send my apologies. We had told the FP to not let anyone other than officials related to the incident up to the scene. The lady and two young children walked in from houses beyond the intersection where the FP were stationed and we asked them to stay back, that is why they are walking back away from the incident. With it being a daytime incident we had a minimal crew of all black hats and I don't think any of us wanted to talk to the media in fear that we may say the wrong thing or break some hippa rules. When the call came from the FP that the media was there we were thinking of the people that we see on the news at night. Had I know it was Action News Guy, a fellow FF that I've met a few times I would have told command to let him come down knowing that he would not ask a bunch of questions or get in the way. Maybe we need a code word when it is he that is asking to get closer!

Again ANG, my apologies and please don't hold it against us. I understand and appreciate the service you do for us everyday from weather alerts to PR opportunities and I don't want to affect that in a negative way. We were just a few Black Hat FFs trying to get a job done. Meet me at Springboro's club one evening and I'll buy you a cold one.

Ive waited for a few days to reply because I wanted to be calm and reasonable about this...and I will say that this is becoming a real problem around the county, especially from companies that dont know me.

The driver had already left the scene. So there were no HIPAA laws to violate...and if I (or any other journalist had asked for protected info, you are well within your rights to refuse to pass on that info.) I wouldnt ask anyway HOWEVER NO WHERE in the HIPAA laws does it mention denying scene access to the media even IF the victims are still on scene. Heres a link to a summary of the HIPAA regs.

http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/un ... index.html

This law is all about "covered enitities"...doctors, ambulances services and other medical providers who have access to a pt.'s personal and medical records...there is no mention in there about fire departments or anyone else who isnt billing the pt. for services.

ALSO there is no provision in that law that allows ANYONE to suspend or ignore the Constitution of the United States of America, and especially the First Amendment.

In fact, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has repeatedly upheld the media's right to be allowed on scene unmollested. Period. A word of warning here....the other media members around the country are starting to get a little militant about upholding their contitutionally protected rights....and it costs them absolutely nothing to drag offenders into court for massive damages. The ACLU is doing these challenges FOR FREE! So be careful out there.

Here is the section that many media companies are using in court:

Sec. 1983. Civil action for deprivation of rights

Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation,
custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia,
subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or
other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any
rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws,
shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in
equity, or other proper proceeding for redress, except that in any
action brought against a judicial officer for an act or omission taken
in such officer's judicial capacity, injunctive relief shall not be
granted unless a declaratory decree was violated or declaratory relief
was unavailable.

Simple enough...violation of this law exposes you personally to financial loss for any violating action taken by you or on your orders, and this means the departments insurance career WILL NOT cover your lawsuit or even your legal fees. This is why some business wise fire officers are getting their own errors and ommissions/ liability policys.

Now, you guys know me, I stay out of the way, get my shots and move on. All I need is how many pts and which hospital...and that info comes from the state police. ....and quite frankly, Ive saved your bacon a number of times over the years by deliberately sitting on stories that I had that were not good press for a few particular departments in this county. I was ordered to cover the legal mess at the station on Rt 8 but I sat on the story as much as I could to suppress it....there was one department in this county who had one of their upper officers get arrested and convicted of hanky panky with underage girls...did you see any mention of his affiliation with the VFD in the story? Hell no...without that connection, it wasnt a major story for tv but would have been if I had spoken up with the details.

I have a job to do but I do look out for your backsides more than you know. How many times could I have made good video by showing someone charge a hose bed? or a certain department that I caught doing major damage to their ladder truck? LOTS but I sat on that video. Or a certain department that was caught getting knocked on their butts by an overcharged hand line...while none of them even had turnout gear on? Ive got the footage here...but it will never see the light of day because Im a firefighter just like you guys and I know do-do happens.

Franky, I didnt want to get any closer to that stinky mess then I was anyway!

For christ sake let the news media do their job. Some of them (as stated) now how and what to film. Fires, wrecks rescues, it's great advertising for your dept! If the public doesnt ever see or hear of the bad fire you had or accident and how your dept handled the job then why should they give handouts whenever we send them in the mail?? If know one knows your around...then "why should I donate to a company I never see in action?" is the publics view!

You advertise to bring in viewers or customers. Same goes for fires, in a sick sorta way, if you talk about the bad fire and the lack of hose you had to reach it, then maybe someone in your area who lives in the same situation might say "oh ****, they need money to buy hose" "I better make a nice donation." But if they never hear of it ....they wont give a crap and throw your donation request away! I see dozens of ours in the trash can at my post office after we send them out!!

For gods sake you punch of panzies, be proud of your dept and the equipment you have and let the public know what kind of jobs US VOLUNTEERS do for FREE! Let the news begin.

Holy crap, I didn't mean to stir the sh*t this time. (pun intended) As you can read in my first post I was not in command and did not make the decision to hold the media at distance. I did however apologize for the black hat that was in charge. I have since spoken to him and in hind site I probably should have suggested that he let the media approch the scene. 'nough said, now lets get over it.

As far as hippa, many of you don't know me because I'm a transplant to this area from Maryland. I started in EMS in 1985 so I have plenty knowledge when it comes to pt privacy. I ran with Brunswick Vol Ambulance in Brunswick, Maryland. We ran more voly calls than some paid ALS departments around here. You can check out our run totals at http://www.bvar19.com.

ANG, you may remember me, you did a story on my son for the good kid award. He and my daughter run with 21.

Those that do know me, know that I'm a pretty easy going person that likes to push peoples buttons once in a while. Though this time it was by accident. (no pun intended!)

Ah , no big deal. Just to add a little more...its MUCH MUCH better if "YOU" (chief or OIC) give a report of the action on scene other than some news guy listening to the sideline experts give there 2 cents on whats going on or they themselves come up with their own conclusions. This can lead to a totally wrong account of whats going on and make you look really bad or just plain stupid. Example.....Back when we still had the towing business we where recovering a T/Trailer that went down a ravine. First we pulled the trailer straight from up on the interstate. While doing this the front of our tow truck was about 4' in the air while pulling this trailer. No big deal to us, we do this all the time. we then moved down the road and pulled the truck out with no problems. The newspaper took a picture and put a big 8X10 color pic in the paper saying that the tow truck almost got pulled down the ravine by when they hooked on to the trailer! Far far from what actually happend. We made them put a correction in the paper the next day but who reads those anyway?? Tell your story so its accurate!