Scene Safety FAIL!

[Dustdevil]

Okay, someone is hurling objects so large at you that they shatter your ambulance windshield. Do you pull the ambulance over right there where he is, or do you haul arse out of the line of fire?

http://www.ems1.com/ems-news/817285-boy-charged-after-lager-can-breaks-uk-ambulance-windscreen/

May 09, 2010

Boy charged after lager can breaks UK ambulance windscreen

Crew were responding to a call when a full can of alcohol was thrown

The Herald Express

TORQUAY, England — A teenager has been charged with recklessly endangering life and criminal damage following an incident in Newton Abbot where a can of beer was thrown at an ambulance, smashing the windscreen.

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was charged in relation to the incident which took place at about 9.50pm on March 21.

The ambulance crew were responding to a 999 call when a full can of alcohol was thrown at their vehicle as it passed under the Buckland footbridge over the A380 near Penn Inn.

The paramedics were responding to a call regarding an elderly woman who had been taken ill.

The can completely shattered the driver's side of the windscreen, showering the ambulance cab with shards of glass.

Luckily both paramedics, a man and woman, managed to pull the vehicle over safely and neither of them was injured.

Det Sgt Neil Ralph, who was leading the investigation, said: "We hope that this charge will act as a deterrent for others thinking of engaging in this sort of behaviour.

"There is a very real danger to people's lives of doing this to emergency services trying to go about their business."

The windscreen of the ambulance cost £500 to repair.

The youth will appear at Newton Abbot Youth Court on Wednesday, May 19.

[uglyEMT]

Sounds like the kid through a can of beer off an overpass and shattered the windshield. Depending on how bad it was shattered, sounds like it was bad, pulling over was the safest thing to do. If you cant see safely out of your windshield, you then become a saftey hazard to the general public, thus the need to remove yourself from the flow of traffic in a safe manner, which they seem to have done, and await police assistance.

[spenac]

I wish they spoke English so I could understand what they were saying.

I kept expecting them to to say something about smoking a fag while awaiting the bobbies.

[Richard B the EMT]

If the damage to a windshield was caused by something being thrown off an overpass, stopping at least 100 feet away should be safe for the crew on the ambulance, or even a POV. However, if you see the person at the street level, then it might behoove one to keep moving.

As far as I am concerned, a broken windshield qualifies as sufficient reason to go out of service with that vehicle. No way can a response be continued, at least under supposed "normal circumstances".

[technocardy]

If the damage to a windshield was caused by something being thrown off an overpass, stopping at least 100 feet away should be safe for the crew on the ambulance, or even a POV. However, if you see the person at the street level, then it might behoove one to keep moving.

As far as I am concerned, a broken windshield qualifies as sufficient reason to go out of service with that vehicle. No way can a response be continued, at least under supposed "normal circumstances".

I completely agree. A broken windshield is reason enough to put yourself out of service, and request another unit responds to your original call while you await a ride and the police, or bobbies in this case. However I think the point that Dust was making was that they stopped right there, or to close to the overpass. This could possibly make matters worse. The unit should have driven a short distance away (I'd personally say a little further than 100ft) and pulled over away from the scene where this occurred.

[Dustdevil]

I kept expecting them to to say something about smoking a fag while awaiting the bobbies.

I will not stand idly by while you advocate violence against homosexuals!

Anyhow, I have continued response with my windshield laying in my lap, and blood coming from my and my partner's faces. Shyte happens, and sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.

Edited May 14, 2010 by Dustdevil

[Richard B the EMT]

I'm speaking as a civilian, not a military EMT: If you and your partner are bleeding from injuries to the face, subsequent to a cinder block coming through the vehicle windshield, you are temporarily not Emergency Responders, you are patients!

[Dustdevil]

I'm speaking as a civilian, not a military EMT

So am I. And we were both capable of continuing on, so we did. Just because you have a few cuts and no windshield doesn't mean you stop and boo hoo about it. People are depending on you to respond. If you are capable of doing so, you continue.