MOVE TO THE RIGHT!

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squirrel15

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When driving code 3 I expect people to do dumb things, like not moving or moving to the left. But when sitting in the mirror of another ambulance for a 1/2 mile switching tones and hitting the airhorn I would expect them to move out of the way a little quicker and to be paying attention... Sorry, just had to get that out.
 
It's almost impossible to hear a siren when you're sealed up in a modern vehicle with the a/c and radio on.

The medic unit behind me scared the crap out of me the other day. He was on my bumper, laying on the horn. I was in the left lane, doing 65 or so.
 
DEmedic said:
It's almost impossible to hear a siren when you're sealed up in a modern vehicle with the a/c and radio on.

The medic unit behind me scared the crap out of me the other day. He was on my bumper, laying on the horn. I was in the left lane, doing 65 or so.
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Well you should check your mirrors then just like he shouldve!! :p

I know it can be hard, it was just frustrating lol
 
Tell me about! Literally saw a car catch on fire on the 405N here in OC. We tried chirping our way to the right. BUT nope. The butthole next to us wouldnt stop. Luckily we got to it though lol
 
It's more about the person driving the medic unit taking the emotion out of driving with lights and sirens.

If I had tapped my brakes that guy would have plowed into me, and it would have been his fault.

I've worked with plenty of people, new EMTs and long time medics, who get so riled up when they drive code, it's scary. One guy, a former supervisor, would get so mad at traffic he'd turn red and spittle would fly from his mouth as he cursed out the drivers in front of us. This would be a while driving to a 33charlie call. (Aka: ALS/routine nursing home call)

I transported a patient with a femur fx to a trauma center a few weeks ago and the EMT drove so recklessly and erratically that I had to write her up after telling her three times (with no result) to shut off the lights and siren.

I honestly think we should take the lights and sirens off EMS units. Especially BLS units.
 
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DEmedic said:
It's more about the person driving the medic unit taking the emotion out of driving with lights and sirens.

If I had tapped my brakes that guy would have plowed into me, and it would have been his fault.

I've worked with plenty of people, new EMTs and long time medics, who get so riled up when they drive code, it's scary. One guy, a former supervisor, would get so mad at traffic he'd turn red and spittle would fly from his mouth as he cursed out the drivers in front of us. This would be a while driving to a 33charlie call. (Aka: ALS/routine nursing home call)

I transported a patient with a femur fx to a trauma center a few weeks ago and the EMT drive so recklessly and erratically that I had to write her up after telling her three times (with no result) to shut off the lights and siren.

I honestly think we should take the lights and sirens off EMS units. Especially BLS units.
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I usually chew gum whenever I drive code 3, gives me something to focus on other than crappy drivers.
 
You need the rumbler siren. Cars yield 1/2 block away, and most pedestrians turn to see what's coming down the block. When we got one for our new medic, drivers magically behave more appropriately.
 
Aprz said:
People still drive code 3 on the freeway?
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Technically we're required to go red lights and sirens (RLS) by company policy with a speed limit of 80. iDrive comes on for 10 or 15 seconds once you hit 80 then if you get to 86 it begins a constant recording and sends an email to our Health and Safety guy and you hear about it real quick.

With that said our Health and Safety Director goes to bat for us every time if we shut down on the freeway and miss our response time requirement because of it. The only time I go RLS on the freeway is when I have to go a long ways, it's a priority call and it will actually save time. We cannot exceed the posted speed limit unless our RLS are activated and Highway Patrol has recently stopped a few of our units for speeding without RLS.

We're an nirvana system however our response area is technically 6000 sq miles so we can have some really long responses sometimes. It's not unheard of to have a 25-30 mile RLS response if not longer than that. Not a regular thing but it happens more than a few times a week.

What I'll usually do when I have to do it is shut down on the way up the on ramp, merge, get over to the #1 lane then light back up. As we near our exit I shut down again, merge right to the exit lane then light back up coming down the ramp. Entering and exiting the freeway RLS is the most dangerous part of the whole operation.
 
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I try to use the lights and siren as little as possible. As soon as we get on the freeway or a highway it is easiest for us to drive like a normal vehicle.

At night when there are no cars on the road we will normally go without lights and sirens to calls. We will just flip the lights on for a brief second when approaching a read light so that the light changes green for us.
 
We shut down when we're on the freeway, only use RLS when that's the only way to move forward through congestion (which usually only happens when responding to calls on the freeway) or when on scene of freeway calls.
 
Cute video.

Instead of promoting defensive driving within our ranks, let's continue to mislead the public with "lives on the line" and send a message that makes us look like jerks.
 
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