For EMS, fire and law enforcement personnel deployed on roadways in response to an accident or other emergency situation, high-visibility vests serve as a first line of defense against highway traffic. However, emergency responders' track record for using high-visibility garments can be described as haphazard at best. Utilizing such protection is complicated by confusing standards, bulky and inconvenient garments and just plain apathy. New federal requirements will soon require all emergency response personnel to wear specific "safety vests" while working on any highway.

     In order to simplify things and allow organizations to prepare for these changes, following is an outline of some of the standards that emergency responders need to be aware of regarding high-visibility garments.

Classes of Safety Garments
     The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA) have jointly created two standards. ANSI/ISEA 107-2004, American National Standard for High-Visibility Safety Apparel and Headwear, establishes three classes of garments:

• Class 1 garments are designed for workers in parking lots, warehouses, and other places where traffic should be moving no faster than 25 mph.
• Class 2 garments are designed to protect people whose job diverts their attention from traffic, or where traffic is expected to travel at 25 mph or more.
• Class 3 garments are intended for people whose heavy work load often diverts their attention from traffic, and for those who face serious hazards from moving vehicles.

     Recently, the ANSI/ISEA 207-2006, American National Standard for High- Visibility Public Safety Vests (PSV), was introduced to increase the safety and visibility of emergency responders, while making significant changes specifically for public safety professionals. These new garments have the same amount of retro-reflective material as Class 2 vests and nearly as much fluorescent material. Essentially, the PSV vests fall between the specifications for Class 1 and Class 2 vests.

     The PSV standard includes some important design options for break-away features using Velcro rather than zippers, buttons or sewn seams. These break-away vests can be pulled quickly and easily away from a responder's body should they become caught on a passing vehicle. They also include features specific to emergency responders' needs, such as a shorter cut side for law enforcement or EMS belt-mounted equipment. The standard also specifies the vests' dimensions, making them sufficiently large to be worn over a firefighter's turnout coat. Finally, to clearly and visibly differentiate between various emergency personnel at a scene, the PSV standard allows for color-specific markings or trim to distinguish between law enforcement, fire and EMS responders.

     Many states and local municipalities have their own policies for using high-visibility garments while working on highways, but two looming national standards now serve to standardize these requirements.

     Starting on November 24, the Code of Federal Regulations (specifically 23 CFR 634) will require all emergency responders who are exposed to traffic within the right-of-way of any highway that receives federal money to wear high-visibility safety apparel that meets the Class 2 or Class 3 requirements of ANSI/ISEA 107-2004. In a recent letter to the Emergency Responder Safety Institute, Jeffrey Paniati, the associate administrator for operations at the Federal Highway Administration, confirmed that the Public Safety Vest standard (ANSI 207-2006) meets the requirements of 23 CFR 634 and such vests may be used in lieu of Class 2 garments.

     Additionally, the 2003 version of the Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), which governs the use of all safety equipment on the nation's highways, dictates the use of high-visibility garments. The MUTCD, which has been adopted by every state in the country in one form or another, is currently being amended to require a PSV, Class 2 or Class 3 garment for all emergency responders on every roadway.

     The use of high-visibility garments is only one aspect of the larger issue of traffic incident management. In order to take the first steps to keep our responders safe, we need to be seen by the motoring public. The new national standards and regulations will undoubtedly improve highway safety for responders.

Daniel Kontos is a lieutenant and shift commander with the Portage County (IN) Sheriff's Department. He is president and founder of Incident Response LLC, an emergency services training and consulting firm.