# Opticom



## Medic51 (Jun 1, 2007)

We have recently established Opticom in our ambulances for a few mile strip of major intersections, i think they are working great, has anyone else been given these for there service at all?

For those who don't know what opticom system is, it changes the red lights green for us for a 10 second period, when running emergency.


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## MMiz (Jun 1, 2007)

We have them on some of our rigs.  The opticom truly works wonders.  I feel as though it has been one of the inventions that has truly made a significant contribution to increasing the safety of EMS and first responders.


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## Flight-LP (Jun 1, 2007)

Personally, I don't think they have helped much. After reviewing run times, they have saved us, collectively, an insignificant amount of time at an unjustified expense. My big problem is that they are installed on one of the busiest roads in SE Texas. Yeah, they will turn the light green, but drivers can't move in rush hour traffic. All it does is screw up the flow of traffic when the lights reset. I think the funds could have been better utilized elsewhere, i.e. given back to the employees.....JMHO

Nice concept, I will admit, just not feasible where they were placed.....


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## Medic51 (Jun 1, 2007)

I dont think the purpose was to better response time, I think its more, It makes it a safer response time, Less likely to have to run hot through a red light, less likely to get hit, Is the way i see it. 

Flight, If you dont mind me asking, which service are you from? Cause I think your speaking of 1960 area.


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## brahms0788 (Jun 1, 2007)

I visit family in Minnesota often and they have a similar system  in downtown Minneapolis at _every_ streetlight!  The two times that I've seen an ambulance come through, it worked great.


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## Flight-LP (Jun 2, 2007)

Medic51 said:


> I dont think the purpose was to better response time, I think its more, It makes it a safer response time, Less likely to have to run hot through a red light, less likely to get hit, Is the way i see it.
> 
> Flight, If you dont mind me asking, which service are you from? Cause I think your speaking of 1960 area.



I think you already know ..........

They were a great concept and they work well coming off of the side streets onto 1960, but in afternoon traffic on 1960 they are pointless, no one is moving anyways. It just causes confusion among already idiotic drivers.......


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## Raf (Jun 2, 2007)

We don't have them at our company, but I have seen them in action and they are not really useful in my area.

It's a wonderful concept but there are not enough IR receivers at the intersections to make it worth it. They would have to be made universal.


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## MMiz (Jun 2, 2007)

My experience was seeing them used from 7PM-7AM in a city that equipped every traffic light with a receiver.  I think it did wonders for the safety of the responding unit and the public.


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## Alexakat (Jun 3, 2007)

Medic51 said:


> We have recently established Opticom in our ambulances for a few mile strip of major intersections, i think they are working great, has anyone else been given these for there service at all?
> 
> For those who don't know what opticom system is, it changes the red lights green for us for a 10 second period, when running emergency.




Our trucks have them.  Pretty convenient from what I can tell...


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## Jon (Jun 11, 2007)

Almost every light in my service area (and the whole county) has them. As was said, they don't really save lots of time, but make for a safer response. I still treat every intersection with great caution... but it makes some intersections (including left turns accross traffic) much safer.


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## SWVAEMT (Aug 4, 2007)

We have them on all emergency vehicles. Though any decrease in response times is fairly insignificant, I think they do a lot to improve our safety as well as public safety by eliminating the need to go through red lights.

Just remember to turn the emitter off while on scene. Lights within range will not change causing traffic problems.


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## Insurman (Aug 9, 2007)

are opticom systems interchangible.. 

like from town to town .can i get one for my POV and use it in my town ?


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## BossyCow (Aug 9, 2007)

Insurman said:


> are opticom systems interchangible..
> 
> like from town to town .can i get one for my POV and use it in my town ?



For your POV? Like for when you just don't feel like waiting for a light to turn?


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## SwissEMT (Aug 9, 2007)

Insurman said:


> are opticom systems interchangible..
> 
> like from town to town .can i get one for my POV and use it in my town ?


You're fired.

Just kidding. You're kidding too, right?:unsure:


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## rgnoon (Aug 9, 2007)

Just out of curiosity, Does anyone have any information on, or examples of suburban implementations of this technology. It seems like it could be something that we might look into around here to improve the safety of everyone responding in the are.


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## MMiz (Aug 10, 2007)

I'm sure the company could provide you with ample data.
http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/Traffic_Safety/TSS/Offerings/Systems/Opticom/

As far as one device working in multiple areas; it depends on the area/system.


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## medicdan (Aug 23, 2007)

We use them in the service that I ride along with. Right now we only have the receiver on three lights, but we are told that within the next month, they are installing six more sensors on lights. 
In order for us to get anywhere in our coverage area, we need to go through one light-- and it would be quite tricky without the option. We haven't done a review of response times, but I am pretty sure that it helps a lot.

The problem from a safety standpoint is that the light is timed and synchronized with neighboring ones and us interfering messes a lot up. Drivers get confused when, soon after the light turns green and they accelerate, it immediately turns red. Some drivers try to "beat" the light, and I have seen plenty of near-accidents. We always approach the intersection with L&S, and almost always make a full stop, even if we have a 'fake" green-- because drivers try to bear the light. 
The fortunate thing for us is that in many cases, we have cops leading and following us (we all leave from the same station, and go the same route), and the cops usually scare drivers into complying.


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## keith10247 (Aug 28, 2007)

I am personally a big fan of the Opticom.  We have them on pretty much all of our apparatus.  We have a strip of road that is a busy business street which you have to drive through to get to the hospital.  This road has a billion lights it seems.  Having the opticom makes it much easier for traffic to be able to clear the way and move over to allow us to come through.  If the light is red, the car sitting at the intersection cannot move anywhere.  In VA, if a car is forced in to the intersection to allow the ambulance through and that car gets hit, the ambulance driver is held liable.

Plus the technology is cool.  Who likes to sit at red lights?  


One additional thing to mention; it is possible to set different priorities for what opticoms get to change the light first.  Our PD has opticoms as well...if a cop is approaching the intersection opposite of us, their opticom takes priority over any of our squad's opticoms.... go figure


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## Jon (Aug 31, 2007)

rgnoon said:


> Just out of curiosity, Does anyone have any information on, or examples of suburban implementations of this technology. It seems like it could be something that we might look into around here to improve the safety of everyone responding in the are.


Around here... many municipalities / the county simply mandate the technology be on all new traffic signals.

One of the things I've seen start in the last few years is remote opticom recievers... When a traffic light is on a hill, or around a curve, they will sometimes install opticom recivers on seperate poles that can see "around" the curve or hill... so that we can trigger the light at a reasonable distance.


As for priority: there are 2 settings for opticoms.... one is high priority and one is low priority. In theory, the high priority one is for emergency vehicles, and the low priority one is for mass transit agencies or other "non-emergency" use. The emergency function TOTALLY overrides the traffic signal, giving a green to the side that first triggers the light, and giving all other sides red lights. The low-priority mode is designed to "push" the light... either causing it to go green a moment earlier or stay green a moment longer. Around here, there is a push to have some busses equipped with this, to use when they are behind schedule. High priority overrides low priority (duh).

Keith - are you SURE that the PD has a different priority setting than you do? It is possible that they just have a better emitter (lens is cleaner, strobe is more powerful... whatever) and they get detected at a farther distance than you?


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## keith10247 (Sep 11, 2007)

Jon,

Sorry for the late response.  I am pretty sure this is the case.  The county does Opticom training every once in a while and they instruct us that PD has priority over the Opticom system.  It's just not fair!


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## Insurman (Sep 25, 2007)

i am kidding about my POV.. I am serious about town to towns though.. some neighboring towns have it..


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