Light or No Lights?

[Tigger]

No matter what our BLS rig goes lights and sirens to scene unless told not to by dispatch. Sometimes we do use lights and sirens for BLS only transport, the only times that we don't are mental transports and anything stupid (like someone showing no obvious signs of severe distress).

Why does your agency transport emergent to the hospital on most calls? The very vast majority of EMT patient encounters do not involve "severe distress" and even the ones that do can often be transported non-emergent without detriment to the patient.

 

[AtlasFlyer]

We generally respond to all but the lowest priority calls with lights & sirens. We generally transport to hospital with no lights & sirens, the highest priority PTs are transported with lights & sirens. On my 12-hour night shifts (7pm-7am) we do 5-8 runs on average per shift and we'll transport with lights & sirens maybe once a week. Usually less. There's little traffic in the night, our transport times are minimal, and there's no value in going full lights/sirens for someone who doesn't really need it. Even when responding, after about 9/9:30 I'll usually have the sirens off when going through residential neighborhoods, using them only when approaching and going through intersections or when specifically needed. Why wake everyone up... I also don't drive at breakneck speeds. It's not worth the risk to myself, my partner and my truck to drive like a madman.

I gotta admit I love the air horn though... and I will blast it when necessary. (Not often, but it's there when I need it.)

 

[Medic Tim]

Hey easy there. You should know what I mean by a "stupid" call. I shouldn't have used that word to describe it, but you should know what I mean. We have all been there with a paitent who has no legitimate reason for calling 911, and we have been there with paitents who lie about their suspected condition just to get a bed and meal for the night. Why don't you look at the "Most Rediculous Call" post?

Wasn't trying to jump down your throat. Just irks me when people refer to calls as bs or stupid. We may not see or view it as an "emergency" but to them it can be very real. There are those that do fake and lie but there is usually an underlying cause.

 

[spnjsquad]

Yeah I understand

 

[EMTodd]

Lights and sirens for 911 calls and critical patients.

 

[ZombieEMT]

Lights and sirens for 911 calls and critical patients.

Do you believe this is appropriate for all 911 calls? Do all responses/transports get a lights/sirens response?

 

[DesertMedic66]

Do you believe this is appropriate for all 911 calls? Do all responses/transports get a lights/sirens response?

Nope and nope. Anything I can do about it? Nope (unless I want to get fired). Company and county protocol are all 911 calls receive a lights and siren response from the fire department and ambulance company.