A new series of public service announcements show that in some cases, dealing with an emergency can be more deadly than the emergency itself.
The series of commercials show police, firefighters and paramedics all dealing with various emergency situations in unsafe buildings, or being endangered in traffic by distracted drivers, as preventable scenarios to allow them to do their jobs.
The campaign is entitled Put Yourself in Our Boots and is designed to reduce preventable injuries and fatalities and promote workplace safety for emergency services workers. Radio and print announcements are due to follow later in the year.
Maryanne Pope is board chair for the John Petropoulos Memorial Fund. The fund was established after her husband John, a Calgary police officer, fell to his death responding to a call in a warehouse. One of the commercials in the new campaign is based on the incident that took his life.
“There was no one in the building, it was a false alarm,” Pope said. “That was part of the story that took me a long time to come to terms with.
“If there had been a safety railing this wouldn’t have happened to him or anyone else.”
Edmonton deputy police Chief David Korol observed that distracted motorists can really cause problems and generate perils for officers on duty, and expressed hopes the ads would help remedy this problem.
“Our workplace is everywhere, and very often our workplace is on the streets,” Korol said.
