Running Red Lights/ Stop Signs

[Just Plain Ruff]

I could care less,as long as the lights are flashing and the siren is activated,I run like a raped ape! Red lights and stop signs don't mean shiit when seconds count.

Have you ever personally seen a raped ape?

[JPINFV]

I could care less,as long as the lights are flashing and the siren is activated,I run like a raped ape! Red lights and stop signs don't mean shiit when seconds count.

The more you know...

[Leener77]

Driving an ambulance and doing it correctly isn't difficult. I know there are complete idiot drivers out there and that I have to keep a constant eye out for them and try to avoid them. Intersections are no exception even when the light is green. You can still have the idiot not paying attention come flying through when you obviously have right away. I make it a habit to take my foot off the gas and place it over the break as I go through intersections that are green......usually slowing down just a bit. I've been almost hit a couple of times at intersections both of which would NOT have been my fault.....but luckily I was able to avoid the situation because I wasn't flying through.

Also making sure your PT arrives safe and sound to the hospital isn't difficult either.....even if you are running hot. Tulsa streets are HORRIBLE and most PT's are aware of that but I still get many compliments on what an easy ride it was for as bad as the streets are. (I also like to avoid having my Pt puking from motion sickness which makes my medic rather happy =D>) I leave plenty of stopping distance and stop as slowly as I can when I need to. When I take off from a stop I do so rather slowly.....I stay between 1000 & 2000 rpm's until I get up to the speed limit. This not only makes for an easier ride for the Pt but also for your medic who is usually getting up and down and will keep them from getting tossed unnecessarily. Getting onto the highway I start out a little faster so not to impede too much traffic but I still try to make the transition as smooth as possible. I use the same regard when running back hot (which is pretty rare). There is more of a sense of urgency and if my medics asks me to 'drive it like i stole it' :wink: I do step it up a bit but still have to be very cautious of how fast I'm going and my surroundings. Getting my PT and my medic there safely is my main priority and I'm not going to do anything that will jeapordize that. If I can't get them there safely then it defeats the whole purpose of why they called and taking them to the hospital for the help they need.

[Just Plain Ruff]

good post leener but paragraphs would be good too.

getting there in one piece and unruffled is the end game in driving in an ambulance.

If you don't get there safely there is a problem.

[Stitch]

There are wonderful things called drive cams, the EMS place in pittsburgh I worked for had them, and you gotta be REALLY careful about your driving, there were penalties for setting them off. also, I've seen a drive cam video of a florida ambulance that blew a red light running hot, hit a car, and the driver of the car was cited for failure to yield, never mind the idiot who blew through the light....

[medic511]

From a "liability potential" (as well as from a good-of-society) point of view, that is a REALLY bad policy. It shows an abuse of discretion. Failing to use any judgment is the worst case of bad judgment.

Lights & siren ("running code") always increases the risk to ambulance personnel and the general public. Therefore, running code to ALL calls amounts to taking risks without reason. "Code" response should be used only when, based upon information actually available at the time, it seems reasonable that the added risks of running code are outweighed by the patient's circumstances. So, we should run code to cardiac calls and SOBs, but not to minor injuries and nausea calls. Sure, it's always possible that the nausea is really a stroke in progress, but until there is information that would lead a reasonable EMS staffer to believe that, it should be a "routine" response. That does not mean stopping for a soda at a convenience store, but it also does not mean running code.

The sad part is that your protocol requiring a code response to ALL calls was probably written by someone who thought that it was guarding against the possibility of getting sued when your agency responded routine on what in fact turned out to be a critical call. But that myopic thinking is just creating fodder for the lawyers; protocols need to address all the competing risks and suggest, direct, and require sound judgment.

[medic511]

I still get many compliments on what an easy ride it was for as bad as the streets are. (I also like to avoid having my Pt puking from motion sickness which makes my medic rather happy ) I leave plenty of stopping distance and stop as slowly as I can when I need to. When I take off from a stop I do so rather slowly.....I stay between 1000 & 2000 rpm's until I get up to the speed limit. This not only makes for an easier ride for the Pt but also for your medic who is usually getting up and down and will keep them from getting tossed unnecessarily. Getting onto the highway I start out a little faster so not to impede too much traffic but I still try to make the transition as smooth as possible.

Leener77 makes an EXCELLENT point here. The quality of care that the patient gets in the bad depends at least as much upon the skill of the driver as upon the skill of the attendant(s) in the back. The best damn medic in the world can't do the best job possible when they are having to hold on and are fighting to avoid being thrown about in the back.

Leener77 makes an excellent and most valuable part of the "care team."

[DCMed124]

I think we need hover crafts that fly 30 feet over the flow of traffic.

Isn't that called a helicopter?

Instead of driving it like you stole it, drive it like you own it.

[Just Plain Ruff]

Isn't that called a helicopter?

Instead of driving it like you stole it, drive it like you own it.

No it's a hovercraft baby, helicopters aren't supposed to fly 30 feet over traffic. But a hover craft could.

[kd8htw]

see i have to put this in here to play devils advocate, In Ohio a fire dept owned squad does legally have the right-away gennerally this is assured with some sort of traffic control device, IE 3m opticon, however squads that are not FD run are only asking for the rightaway. I run on both FD and private squads that are primary response agencies. Now do i just bust ass into an intersection thinkin that everyone has seen my lights and heard my siren? HELL NO thats a suicide lookin for a place to happen.

BTW there is no such thing as excessive air horn use when responding to a call