Make the Change, Save a Life
Put Yourself in Our Boots is a
John Petropoulos Memorial Fund initiative
The Put Yourself in Our Boots campaign is intended to make people think about workplace safety from the point of view of emergency responders and equip them with the tools to make changes in their workplaces. The DVD includes many resources to help make workplaces safer for everyone. Further resources can be found throughout this website.
The 10-minute safety video highlights the story of John Petropoulos, a Calgary Police Service constable who passed away in the line of duty on Sept. 29, 2000 at the age of 32. John was investigating a break & enter complaint at a warehouse when he fell through a false ceiling. He died from brain injuries sustained from the fall. There was no safety railing to warn John of the danger and the call ended up being a false alarm.
The safety video includes interviews with police officers who were there the night John died, as well as his widow. It also examines workplace safety for all emergency responders. Interviews with police, fire, and EMS and feedback from workplace health and safety professionals provide viewers with tangible tips they can use to keep their workplaces safe for those needing to respond to their premises.
As well, the safety video stresses the importance of traffic safety, because the workplace of emergency responders is every place, including busy roadways. While most people leave work and get in their vehicles at the end of the workday, many first responders don't start working until they get behind the wheel of their emergency services vehicles.
When you make your workplace safe for emergency responders, you make it safe for everyone, including your own employees. Put Yourself in Our Boots is a call to action to think about workplace safety from a DIFFERENT perspective: that of someone entering an unfamiliar workplace after hours, in poor lighting, and during a highly stressful situation – such as a fire, medical emergency, or a crime in progress.
- Watch the safety video and PSAs during safety meetings. After viewing the videos, discuss safety at your workplace. Is it safe for everyone?
- Take the Put Yourself in Our Boots safety quiz.
Read the DVD Insert that includes a summary of workplace and traffic safety tips. Make the change; save a life.
- Show the extended interviews to safety training and recruit classes – this additional resource includes excellent information that is useful for safety training classes, and for police, fire and EMS recruit training courses.
- Get Public Service Announcements shown in your area - see if your local TV stations are interested in broadcasting the PSAs. Ask news outlets if they would like to do a story on workplace safety and how it impacts emergency responders. Put Yourself in Our Boots resources - including video, radio and print PSAs - can be downloaded to your computer for use in your community.
- Check out the John Petropoulos Memorial Fund's website at jpmf.ca. The JPMF website has many resources which cannot be found here.
- Contact us let us know about your ideas and what you're doing to make workplaces safer.
- Share this website with your friends!