Ambulance drivers who abuse their sirens

[murphy55d]

Originally posted by: jumpr

Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
I always pull over and stop when they're coming with their siren on. If they begin to abuse it, my view will change completely and the only thing that will keep my doing it is fear of getting a ticket if I don't pull over.

I really hope they don't abuse it because then when someone is in the ambulance, people might not believe the siren 🙁

Working in the records unit for a semi-busy police department, I've seen plenty of tickets written for "Fail to Yield to Emergency Vehicle." If you disobey the law, you will be cited.

This I think is one of the reasons it bothers me... now granted I am assuming they just stopped in to eat, because the way everything happened, it just did not seem like anything was going on. If people have to pull off the side of the road just so they can pull into Perkins quicker than everyone else, it does bother me.

 

[JW310]

It's also possible that they were on their way to an emergency call, and got cancelled on the way. That's happened to me once or twice before - get called to a call that's considered a "lights & sirens" call, only to get cancelled halfway there because another ambulance was closer than us, made it there first, and determined that we weren't needed.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: jumpr

Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
I always pull over and stop when they're coming with their siren on. If they begin to abuse it, my view will change completely and the only thing that will keep my doing it is fear of getting a ticket if I don't pull over.

I really hope they don't abuse it because then when someone is in the ambulance, people might not believe the siren 🙁

Working in the records unit for a semi-busy police department, I've seen plenty of tickets written for "Fail to Yield to Emergency Vehicle." If you disobey the law, you will be cited.

That's good to hear. One of my driving pet peeves is when people don't yield to emergency vehicles. Even if it's on the other side of the road, you PULL OVER. I always figured most people got away with it because the police would have been on their way to the emergency too.

 

[bradruth]

Originally posted by: mugs
That's good to hear. One of my driving pet peeves is when people don't yield to emergency vehicles.

It's even worse when they actually pull in front of you, which a bus did a couple weeks ago as we were doing about 70 on city streets en route to a fire. We were in the turning lane so no one would have to move, but they merged into the lane as if we didn't exist...we had to swerve into the opposite lane to get around them and through the intersection.

 

[Siva]

I doubt they were abusing it. EMTs are normally volunteers who take what they do seriously. Its something they care about, why else would they do it for free? And honestly, who carries in a stretcher to a call that they haven't even evaluated yet, that doesn't mean a thing at all.

 

[clicknext]

Funny story is that currently in Beijing China, there are some people who have the police-type lights installed discretely in their car, and they use them to get through traffic. Cops try to catch them, but with them being able to turn them off any time and with so many cars in China, obviously it's hard.

 

[jtusa]

Buddy of mine in high school was a volunteer fire fighter and had strobes in the headlights of his car. He used to use them to get through thick traffic. One time he got caught, wasn't pretty for him.

 

[wallsfd949]

It's quite possible they were disregarded en-route. I've gotten some strange looks before after being DRG en-route because I'm in my Personally Owned Vehicle on my way to the station and the call wasn't as big as it sounded at first. We've never had an instance of someone abusing lights and siren on our Dept, but that doesn't mean it can't happen.

Originally posted by: mugs
His driver also collided with another car while illegally using lights and sirens to go through a red light. Granted, it was the other driver's fault for not yielding, but it never should have happened.

Depending on the state, you are incorrect. In Mississippi, lights and siren do not give you the right of way. All fire apparatus are required to 'check up' at all stop signs and red lights. If I blow through a stop sign in our pumper and hit someone, it doesn't matter how many lights or how loud my sirens - it is still my fault. This is something that I do see abused and our drivers are repremanded.

 

[wallsfd949]

Originally posted by: SacrosanctFiend

Originally posted by: bradruth

Most people would be horrified if they watched us laughing & joking the way we do around a corpse. :thumbsup:

Ah, another nutjob on the boards. :beer:

 

[Gooose]

who cares, people always find loop holes - i am sure you have in the past as well.

Maybe this was their first time, and wanted to have fun? maybe they just saved a life and was excited?

who knows.

 

[911paramedic]

First off, there is no such thing as an "ambulance driver", if they are driving the ambulance they are part of the crew and are at least an EMT. (drivers only went out in the 70's) Partners switch driving after each call that results in a transport.

Now, on to siren abuse.

It is illeagal to do what you said, and you would also lose your job over it. What usually happens is we are on a call and get cancelled enroute, so we shut the lights/sirens down after clearing the next intersection. (if we are already on top of it) Why do we clear the intersection? Because if we shut them down behind cars they get nervous and think we are waiting for them to move out of the way, and they blow the light or do something else dumb. (yes, it happens all the time)

After clearing the intersection we can shut them down and go about our business, which is often trying to find something to eat/drink because we have such a strange schedule. MOST professionals realize that turning into the first 7-11/McDonalds/restaurant is a stupid idea, because people (like you) think we were using the lights/sirens just to get there.

If a person did what you said, and it was just to eat, they would be fired. Period.

 

[JW310]

Originally posted by: 911paramedic
First off, there is no such thing as an "ambulance driver", if they are driving the ambulance they are part of the crew and are at least an EMT. (drivers only went out in the 70's) Partners switch driving after each call that results in a transport.

Now, on to siren abuse.

It is illeagal to do what you said, and you would also lose your job over it. What usually happens is we are on a call and get cancelled enroute, so we shut the lights/sirens down after clearing the next intersection. (if we are already on top of it) Why do we clear the intersection? Because if we shut them down behind cars they get nervous and think we are waiting for them to move out of the way, and they blow the light or do something else dumb. (yes, it happens all the time)

After clearing the intersection we can shut them down and go about our business, which is often trying to find something to eat/drink because we have such a strange schedule. MOST professionals realize that turning into the first 7-11/McDonalds/restaurant is a stupid idea, because people (like you) think we were using the lights/sirens just to get there.

If a person did what you said, and it was just to eat, they would be fired. Period.

I agree with everything you said except for your first statement. While that may be true with whichever agency you work for (or it may even be part of your state's regulations for ambulances), the requirements to be a driver in an ambulance vary by state. In the agency that I volunteer with, the only certification that's required is CPR. Of course, one needs to go through the driver training program, but they certainly don't need to be an EMT to drive for the agency I ride with. Such is the case with many of the ambulance agencies in my area.

I can't remember the number of times I've heard a re-dispatch go out for either just a driver or just an EMT. Granted, volunteer EMS agencies are often different than commercial EMS agencies as far as how they're run. But at least in my experience, there certainly is such a thing as an "ambulance driver."

JW