Another emergency vehicle fatality.......

[46Young]

http://www.jems.com/news_and_articles/news/09/man_dies_in_collision_with_florida_ambulance.html

 

[ClarkKent]

Damn, I hate hearing that

 

[kittaypie]

so he hit the truck when he went to oppose traffic. judging by the damage, he must have been opposing waaaaay too fast. there's a reason we're supposed to oppose at 10 mph, even though most of the time we do it at 20 or 30.

 

[Onceamedic]

There will be h*** to pay. I work for AMR. The company assumes any accident is the fault of the operator of the emergency vehicle. The fact that the driver of the ambulance was cited makes it a slam dunk.

There is absolutely no excuse to "not see" traffic stopped in front of you. No mention if the ambulance was running code tho... although that would not be an excuse either.

 

[medicdan]

AMR has road safety, so I am sure they will have plenty to blame the EVO with. I feel like AMR will see the employee as disposable, and wish wash their hands of the "liability" fairly quickly.
Horrible to hear about, as usual.

 

[46Young]

This incident remind me of another that I was dispatched to back when I was working in Charleston

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2008/mar/26/fatal_collisioncar_ambulance_crash_kills34947/

This was the outcome

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2008/may/21/emt_not_charged_death41599/

 

[46Young]

I saw a continuation to the story on another site -
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/oct/20/201050/tampa-man-dies-after-head--crash-ambulance/

I'm guessing that they weren't running hot. If you were, you would certainly notice any slowdowns/stoppages of traffic in front of you. Admitting that they didn't notice the stoppage is admitting that they were distracted in some manner and not paying attention to the road. Hence the citation.

 

[nomofica]

This incident remind me of another that I was dispatched to back when I was working in Charleston

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2008/mar/26/fatal_collisioncar_ambulance_crash_kills34947/

This was the outcome

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2008/may/21/emt_not_charged_death41599/

The box showed that the ambulance was traveling at 51.6 mph at the time of impact and that its emergency lights and siren were activated. The posted speed limit in the area where the accident occurred is 25 mph.

County policy allows ambulances responding to emergencies to exceed posted speed limits by no more than 10 mph, and it permits driving against the flow of traffic.

"We did not feel there was a case of reckless negligence on the part of the driver," Cannon said.

Now, let's do some math here...
Posted limit= 25 mph
Permitted L&R response limit= posted limit + 10 mph -> 25 mph + 10 mph = 35 mph
Actual speed of vehicle= 51.6 mph
Calculated excess speed= actual - permitted -> 51.6 mph - 35 mph = 27.6 mph

How is it that not slowing down at an intersection on a very busy downtown street and speeding at 27.6 mph over the permitted limit for a responding emergency vehicle running L&R not negligent? Yeah, we all speed a little but when thrown under the microscope because of a fatal MVC involving the ambulance and a civilian, where the civilian was practically broadsided... Really?


As for the unrelated charges slapped against the EMT, disgusting.:glare:

 

[46Young]

Here's my understanding of what happened - they were going down Calhoun st to an unconscious, took the opposite lane to get through the intersection, and then railed the victim's car, which was in the turning lane, as she turned left. At that time of day there's a decent amount of traffic, and I would never be comfortable travelling that speed for any reason whatsoever.

So, the victim was turning left at the intersection, which was green at the time, from what I've been told. Now, if the ambulance was following the SOP regarding speed, they would have had enough time to slow down significantly (from 35 mph, not 51.6), greatly lessening the impact, if not avoiding an accident altogether. It's entirely possible that the victim never saw the bus, as they may have swung out from their lane across the double yellow, while the driver was checking the intersection for other cars, not an out of control emergency vehicle coming out of nowhere.

Really, how many of us in our POV's are checking the rearview mirror when executing a left turn in an intersection? We're checking the light, pedestrians, and oncoming cars coming the opposite direction (in front of you, not behind you going the wrong way. Next time you drive, make note of where you instinctively look.

My dept SOP's allow us to exceed the speed limit by 15 mph on the road or highway. We must slow to the posted speed limit at a minimum when going through intersections with a green light. Highway on ramps are whatever the posted speed limit is. Stop signs and red lights require a complete stop. All of this is with the caveat of "due regard". Besides speeding, this EMT didn't exercise due regard. He was driving so fast (down a busy street) that he pushed the victim's car through the intersection, pinning it to a parked car on the other side of the intersection! A long cut job ensued.

When driving, one should never make a move that they can't get out of, should other drivers do something unpredictable. Simple as that.