Running lights vs running hot

[DrParasite]

you should absolutely have lights and sirens on your ambulance. what if you stop at an MVA?

do you have a chase car going with you for ALS? will you ever provide mutual aid outside of the campus environment? if you transport with the paramedic, and its a life threatening call, should you use L&S?

check your state laws, many will say if your lights are on, your sirens should be on.

College campuses do get ped struck calls, overdoses, and asthma calls. ever some legit unconscious patients. If the call is of a life threatening nature, than you should be responding just like a city ambulance would, using your lights and sirens.

your an ambulance, an emergency vehicle. If the city ambulance were to respond to your campus for an emergency call, would they use their Lights and sirens? if they do, why wouldn't you?

 

[rescue1]

Have you checked your state laws regarding lights and sirens responses? If it requires you to have both activated (as most do) for you to be considered an emergency vehicle, then you should not have a policy instructing a "lights only" response.

If you are running lights for non-emergent calls to clear crowds, remember the increased liability if you hit someone with your lights activated. Also remember that since you didn't have your sirens on, you will be then considered liable for the reason I mentioned above.

I say don't run lights unless it is for a call that would require a L/S response, like unconscious subjects, severe trauma or cardiac issues (less likely on college campuses, but still). If you're responding to a drunk or a MJ user with anxiety, there is no need to activate lights at all, even if it means 5 minutes more response time.
Also, get an airhorn. People will move if you blow the airhorn, lights or no lights.

Also, what happens if there is an emergent call on campus? Say a professor goes into arrest. Do they send you plus city ALS?

 

[Bullets]

When i went through EVOC at the police academy we were taught that any time we would operate a vehicle beyond the normal methods on roads we should be using our lights. Blocking a street, driving off road, or through crowds are all reasons to employ lights. However this is also based on the call as dispatched. Serious calls get a serious response. LOC, OD, Respiratory, Cardiac are all warranted, everything else is not

 

[MMiz]

I think you'll find many here at EMTLife anti-lights/siren. I like to think that a lot of members see themselves as progressive providers, even though I'm confident most use lights/sirens at work.

If I were in charge of EMS at a university I'd make sure the ambulance was equipped with lights/siren for traffic control on scene and for potentially maneuvering through heavy traffic while responding to emergent calls.

Having attended multiple universities and worked at one, it is my experience that lights and siren are rarely used on an actual campus, it's too distracting to the educational environment. It is more common to see them used on surrounding roads and when blocking off roads for traffic control.

I know this isn't what you want to hear, but I think your director may be on to something.

 

[Tigger]

Obviously you're ambulance should be equipped with lights and a siren, and they should be utilized like any other ambulance service would. If you have a call requiring an emergent response, then use them. Using them for a non emergent response to "look legit" is not a good way to gain professional credibility from other agencies and is flat dangerous.

 

[Farmer2DO]

Our ambulance is still getting painted. I believe it is a box type.

Let me be clear about this again. When I say responding with lights I mean responding at a normal speed, obeying all traffic signals and law.

I just think its a good idea to have them on so we are more visible and people don't think we are just a service van or something.

I'm going to go against the grain here and say your thoughts are reasonable. Driving on the sidewalks with your emergency lights on, with the occasional tap of the air horn is, IMHO, appropriate.

There is no valid reason for this concern, other than your self image. What does it matter if somebody sees you and thinks you are a service van?

Because they don't give a damn where you're going or why, or how long you take, if they think you're a service van. I've worked on and dealt with several college campuses, and you could easily have hundreds of students, even over a thousand, mobbing in front of you, intent on getting to their next lecture. I think with use of the lights, and a few air horn taps, they will become like Pavlov's dogs, and get out of their way.

Because college students wont move out of the way. I think that was a bad example. I dont want people to not see us when it is 11pm dark and they are drunk.

Being visible, and being recognized that you're going to provide patient care, are valid concerns.

Disagree all you want, but it's still relevant to the discussion, and it's still the truth.

Geez, would you lay off the kid? Much of what you're disagreeing with him about is opinion. He's entitled to it, and doesn't need someone telling him he's wrong and you know better.