When Seconds Count: Gloves Not On Fire Trucks

Aug. 8, 2008. It’s the scene of a traffic crash in which a vehicle hit a utility pole. Because of the violent crash, the driver doesn't survive. In some cases of cars hitting utility poles, emergency workers say they can’t help right away. The reason? A glove.

"You can never trust electricity. It might look like it's off," said Dorothy Baca of El Paso Electric.

Protective rubber gloves safely allow crews to move live wires. But they're never on fire trucks. So for some crashed involving electricity, time ticks until the electric company gets there.

"So usually when we call them, 5 to 10, 20 minutes up to 30 minutes," said Lt. Mario Hernandez, a spokesman for the El Paso Fire Department.

Why not give the gloves to those first at the scene El Paso Electric says company workers are the experts plus, there's liability.

"And of course the other thing is financial reasons, trying to supply each firefighter with glove and of course having them tested every six weeks, it's a big cost to the El Paso Fire Department," said Hernandez.

The gloves cost $200 a pair. If so much as a pinhole gets in them, the person wearing them could be electrocuted.