09-12-2007, 02:15 AM
""If you're transporting a victim in need of medical assistance. Lights AND Siren please...all the time...day or night...NO EXCEPTIONS!""
Well actually there are some exceptions. If the paramedic says to shut off the siren then there's your exception. Some people being transported have a problem with a thing called Shock as well some are just freaking out therefore we may turn down the interior lights and shut off the siren. Some people are long transports between hospitals and they are sedated etc..
Another possibility, of course I'm not talking about you here, is that the driver, not you, has the radio on and is carrying on a conversation on their cell phone this along with the fact that the emergency vehichle is approaching from behind at a high rate of speed therefore the sound doesn't become noticeable until the ambulance is pretty close.
The bottom line is that with the way cars are made today (quiter and tighter) and certainly at night the lights are many times the first and most noticeable warning. The siren is most effective at intersections, but that's not to assume that the guy with the windows up and the ipod in his ear hears it.
Like I said before if it's "NOT CRITICAL" I'm not waking up the neighborhood at 4am.
The lights overwhelm an area and if, at 4am a driver, not you, doesn't see them I'm good enough that I don't ever assume that the other driver does sees them, then I will hit the whale, if that freaks him out so be it. Truth be known, if a driver doesn't see an ambulance at night then he/she probably should have had a designated driver.
As I said earlier it is a standard procedure that if the lights are on then the siren should be on. Facts are, that is just not always what's best for the patient etc.. This is where you may be having a struggle see it's really not about you.
If I were you I would get the unit number and report the driver to the trooper/police the local hospital etc.. Now if you go to a cop, don't be surprised if he starts qouting the drivers manual, mumbo jumbo, about checking your rear view mirror every 10 seconds etc..
Oh and BTW, if you see an ambulance comming around the corner you may not hear the siren untill after you see him, depending on where in the cycle the siren is.
Blessings,
dave
"Sometimes your the bug and sometimes your the windshield"
Well actually there are some exceptions. If the paramedic says to shut off the siren then there's your exception. Some people being transported have a problem with a thing called Shock as well some are just freaking out therefore we may turn down the interior lights and shut off the siren. Some people are long transports between hospitals and they are sedated etc..
Another possibility, of course I'm not talking about you here, is that the driver, not you, has the radio on and is carrying on a conversation on their cell phone this along with the fact that the emergency vehichle is approaching from behind at a high rate of speed therefore the sound doesn't become noticeable until the ambulance is pretty close.
The bottom line is that with the way cars are made today (quiter and tighter) and certainly at night the lights are many times the first and most noticeable warning. The siren is most effective at intersections, but that's not to assume that the guy with the windows up and the ipod in his ear hears it.
Like I said before if it's "NOT CRITICAL" I'm not waking up the neighborhood at 4am.
The lights overwhelm an area and if, at 4am a driver, not you, doesn't see them I'm good enough that I don't ever assume that the other driver does sees them, then I will hit the whale, if that freaks him out so be it. Truth be known, if a driver doesn't see an ambulance at night then he/she probably should have had a designated driver.
As I said earlier it is a standard procedure that if the lights are on then the siren should be on. Facts are, that is just not always what's best for the patient etc.. This is where you may be having a struggle see it's really not about you.
If I were you I would get the unit number and report the driver to the trooper/police the local hospital etc.. Now if you go to a cop, don't be surprised if he starts qouting the drivers manual, mumbo jumbo, about checking your rear view mirror every 10 seconds etc..
Oh and BTW, if you see an ambulance comming around the corner you may not hear the siren untill after you see him, depending on where in the cycle the siren is.
Blessings,
dave
"Sometimes your the bug and sometimes your the windshield"
Blessings,
dave
"It doesn't mean that much to me.. to mean that much to you." Neil Young
dave
"It doesn't mean that much to me.. to mean that much to you." Neil Young