watch for emergency vehicles

[LyleW]

Please! Makes me crazy when people do not get out of the way. Last evening, a person died and two EMS employees were seriously injured. Thank God, my son was off, but three families are hurting today.
http://www.wave3.com/story/25849967/one ... -ambulance

[BorgR3mc0]

Oh, that is so sad. It always amazes me how some people are totally oblisious to sirens and flashing lights.... the result of which can be catastrophic.

[BlackSheep214]

I agree. There are too many stupid people who don't know well enough to get out of the way. I ALWAYS give right of way to volunteer firemen (flashing blue lights on personal vehicles) as well. I see blue lights, I pull over. You never know if it's a family member that's in trouble and in need of medical emergency.

NYS passed a new law a few years ago you have to slow down/move over when passing a tow truck on side of road assisting disabled vehicles. Too many tow truck drivers being struck by idiot drivers on the highways.

[Stikpusher]

That is one of my no slack stops. If I see a failure to yield to an emergency vehicle, I give them a ticket... And it is not a cheap one here... No warning on those from me. Unfortunately besides the usual oblivious idiots, we also have a large percentage of immigrant drivers who seem to be taught to stop in place in that situation...

[LyleW]

What is sad, is that a minute or so after the crash, they cancelled the run. My son had made runs "'cause you have to take me, I have Passport" on people with GUM PAIN that they have had for weeks. . . and missed serious runs that he could have been working. It is nuts. If you saw the pics, these guys hit a construction crane after hitting the car.

[Stikpusher]

Believe me, between working the phones where 911 calls come in and working the field responding to those calls, you develop a huge contempt for idiots like that who serve no useful purpose in society. It is pretty bad to see how some folks are totally dependent on others, especially government and emergency services, for every aspect of their lives when they do not need to be.

[Medicman71]

Ok, you know I was gonna chime in on this one. I hope that the EMS crew is going to be alright.

As an EMT with over 20+ years experience, I've seen some of the stupidest drivers. Some will stop right in front of you, some speed up to get away from you, and others just have no clue.

Now, to play devils advocate (don't throw things!). Why was the ambulance going at a high rate of speed at an intersection (If that's what they were doing)? Emergency Vehicle Operations Class tells you that you NEVER blow an intersection with lights and sirens even if you have a green light. You're supposed to come to almost a complete stop and check EVERYWHERE!!! You are asking for the right of way. If you blow through a light, you can be held responsible and charged with vehicular manslaughter. You have to assume that everyone is an idiot and that they don't see or hear you.

We have "Drive Cams" on all of our apparatus. Two in the cab (one forward, one facing the crew), one at the rear, and one in the pt compartment. They are there to protect us in these kind of situations. I really hope that the ambulance crew is not at fault.

[Stikpusher]

Very true Medic. Although Vehicle Code laws vary by state, even when the emergency vehicle has the right of way, the driver still needs to clear the intersection safely. Those lights and siren are not a force field to protect you...

[scorpiomikey]

Thats sad to hear.

We have alot of issues with police chases ending badly and the cops being blamed. We had one a while ago just up the road from our place where a guy ran from the cops. About 4 or 5 seconds after the chase had been called off (the cops watched the accident happen, had to go through a heap of counseling) the guy ran a red light, hit an elderly couple in the car going through the intersection killing both instantly. He was going fast enough that he then jumped the median barrier and went though a block fence. It was estimated he was doing 180kmh in a 50kmh zone. There was an outcry that the cops shouldnt have been chasing him, but what else were they going to do? Let him go?

I hope the EMT's are going to be alright, and i hope they get the support they need to get through this.