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25 April 2025
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Investigation into Wichita firefighter LODD recommends safety changes, US
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Months after the death of Wichita firefighter Ty Voth, a new investigative report recommends seven key changes to department policies. Voth, aged 27, died of a cardiac arrest at a house fire in August. Voth had been inside the building for four minutes during the fire, which occurred on a sweltering hot day. After exiting the house fire, Voth appeared to have a seizure, collapsed and died.
"You're never the same. You heal, you move on but it's not the same," said Wichita Firefighter's Union President Ted Bush when talking about how hard it is to lose a firefighter. Bush says that's why the union advocated for an investigation into his death. In order to minimize the chances of anything like this happening again. "He's 27 years old, something happened and we'd like to find out if possible," said Bush.
Earlier in April 2025, the autopsy report and findings of that investigation conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) were released. It says Voth was in the building for approximately four minutes, and then he exited. "Shortly after exiting, the firefighter appeared to have a seizure and collapse to the ground," the report states.
Findings also show Voth passed out while mowing his lawn two months prior to the fire but it says the cause was not identified and no further medical evaluation was done.
Lastly, it mentions that the temperature that day was 96 degrees with a heat index of 103.4. It says it is unknown if either of these factors led to his seizure.
A NIOSH review of the incident made seven recommendations:
• Key recommendation #1: Fire departments should consider implementing annual medical examinations as per National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1582 recommendations.
• Key recommendation #2: Fire departments should encourage members to reduce and if possible, eliminate intake of/exposure to known risk factors for adverse cardiovascular events and rhabdomyolysis.
• Key recommendation #3: Fire departments should increase awareness of conditions that increase the risk of heat-related illness (HRI) and implement heat stress management policies to reduce those risks.
• Key recommendation #4: Ensure that emergency medical service (EMS) with transport capability is on-scene at any fire or special operation location in the event that emergency medical care and transport are needed.
• Key recommendation #5: Fire officers should ensure crew integrity when entering, operating in and exiting from an environment immediately dangerous to life or health (IDLH).
• Key recommendation #6: Fire departments should provide physicians tasked with pre-employment and return-to-work medical evaluations, descriptions of the essential tasks and duties and not rely on the cadet/incumbent to relay this information.
• Key recommendation #7: Fire departments should ensure that a physician signs off on pre-employment and return-to-work evaluations.
Wichita Firefighter’s Union President Ted Bush told KAKE the union supports the recommendations.
Bush says the Wichita Fire Department has been working on adding several of these already but he thinks it can do better.
For example, he says that right now, Sedgwick County EMS is only at select scenes. "It's only people's trapped, buildings fire and apartment fires but Ty died at a single residence house fire so we don't think that's good enough,' he said.
He says the department has also started doing screenings within the last year, but there currently isn't a required annual medical evaluation as the report recommends.
He says the idea with the screenings is to capture any underlying health issues. "We have to give these men and women who literally will give their life for you the best chance of being successful at what they do and come out the other end happy and healthy and able to retire," Bush said.
People who were around Voth said they didn't notice anything wrong with him that day. In the report, they said he was "his typical self, having no complaints and doing nothing out of the ordinary."
Source: KAKE
"You're never the same. You heal, you move on but it's not the same," said Wichita Firefighter's Union President Ted Bush when talking about how hard it is to lose a firefighter. Bush says that's why the union advocated for an investigation into his death. In order to minimize the chances of anything like this happening again. "He's 27 years old, something happened and we'd like to find out if possible," said Bush.
Earlier in April 2025, the autopsy report and findings of that investigation conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) were released. It says Voth was in the building for approximately four minutes, and then he exited. "Shortly after exiting, the firefighter appeared to have a seizure and collapse to the ground," the report states.
Findings also show Voth passed out while mowing his lawn two months prior to the fire but it says the cause was not identified and no further medical evaluation was done.
Lastly, it mentions that the temperature that day was 96 degrees with a heat index of 103.4. It says it is unknown if either of these factors led to his seizure.
A NIOSH review of the incident made seven recommendations:
• Key recommendation #1: Fire departments should consider implementing annual medical examinations as per National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1582 recommendations.
• Key recommendation #2: Fire departments should encourage members to reduce and if possible, eliminate intake of/exposure to known risk factors for adverse cardiovascular events and rhabdomyolysis.
• Key recommendation #3: Fire departments should increase awareness of conditions that increase the risk of heat-related illness (HRI) and implement heat stress management policies to reduce those risks.
• Key recommendation #4: Ensure that emergency medical service (EMS) with transport capability is on-scene at any fire or special operation location in the event that emergency medical care and transport are needed.
• Key recommendation #5: Fire officers should ensure crew integrity when entering, operating in and exiting from an environment immediately dangerous to life or health (IDLH).
• Key recommendation #6: Fire departments should provide physicians tasked with pre-employment and return-to-work medical evaluations, descriptions of the essential tasks and duties and not rely on the cadet/incumbent to relay this information.
• Key recommendation #7: Fire departments should ensure that a physician signs off on pre-employment and return-to-work evaluations.
Wichita Firefighter’s Union President Ted Bush told KAKE the union supports the recommendations.
Bush says the Wichita Fire Department has been working on adding several of these already but he thinks it can do better.
For example, he says that right now, Sedgwick County EMS is only at select scenes. "It's only people's trapped, buildings fire and apartment fires but Ty died at a single residence house fire so we don't think that's good enough,' he said.
He says the department has also started doing screenings within the last year, but there currently isn't a required annual medical evaluation as the report recommends.
He says the idea with the screenings is to capture any underlying health issues. "We have to give these men and women who literally will give their life for you the best chance of being successful at what they do and come out the other end happy and healthy and able to retire," Bush said.
People who were around Voth said they didn't notice anything wrong with him that day. In the report, they said he was "his typical self, having no complaints and doing nothing out of the ordinary."
Source: KAKE