Emergency - Move
By Adversa
@Adversa (406)
Australia
January 13, 2007 4:32am CST
I have a friend who is an ambulance driver. (She is my hero). She had a call out this morning for a transfer from her local medical center to the next town which is aproxamately 50kms away.
The patient has collapsed twice at the medical center. No problem. Kadia and Grey (My friend and her partner) arrived to find the patient in bad shape. (Couldnt tell details due to privact protocol). Anyhow, Kadia and Grey tranfered the patient, who was on a drip, onto a stretcher and got her into the ambulance. Grey also insisted a nurse come along for good measure.
No Worries, off they went (Kadia was driving) on there way to the hospital (In town C, from town A via town B). When the ambulance apraoched intersections Kadia turned on the lights to let the public know there was a patient on board.
Well some pulled over (which was great) but some didnt. and she found herself driving around them. (Trust me, thre is no better way to annoy an ambo driver. Its someones life your messing with).
Only a few moments after leaving the intersection in question when she was told to turn the lights back on, It seems the patient was now a code one (That means the ambo has to have both lights and sirens on, and travel a maximum speed of 130kph). To me that sounds like fun, but Kadia says its not, and this is why.
The road to the next town wasn't too bad, however te drivers would not pull over no matter if she changed the sirens or not. Kadia and Grey are supposed to drive in the center of the road when they have a code one (safer at speed) but how can they when people wont get out of the way?
To make matters worse the patient collapsed again while in transit, increasing the urgency.
Finally they get into town where there is a round about. you would have thought everybody would have gotten out of the way there (Hard to miss an ambulance with lights and sirens screaming) but No - Not one person did!! Kadia had to go arround the traffic there as well (not without minor damage to the ambulance itself btw and I beleive the council may need to repair a garden)
Even coming up to the hospital no matter how many times Kadia changed the sirens drivers still ignored her. She even had one driver turn right in on her. Lucky for everybody involved Kadia is an amazing driver and managed to avoid the collision. She had to squeze the ambulance between the offending vehicle and an oncoming one to do it.
Grey noted the licence plate number of the offending vehicle and called the police after the patient was dropped off saftely (If it was you expect a visit from the boys in blue tomorrow - there not happy either).
The patient made it into the hospital ok, but after that its in the hands of god and the hospital. Kadia has no further word on the patient. Kadia is a volunteer. She does not get paid for all she does. It all comes from the goodness of her heart (Which is why she is my hero)
When she was telling me this story today I was horrified. I mean seriously, why dont people get out off the way? It is the law to do so! Please get out of the way of emergency vehicles. They are there to save lives. One day it could be you in the ambulance, or caught in a fire, or perhaps your waiting on police assistance. Whatever the reason, you will wish that they could arrive as swiftly as possible.
(Oh, the names have been changed to protect the privacy of those involved)
What do you think of the people who dont get out of the way? Have you done it yourself? Do you think there should be stricter penalties for not co-operating? Please share your thoughts and ideas!
2 people like this
7 responses
@linepau1 (188)
• Canada
14 Jan 07
That is really disgusting. People are so stupid sometimes.
I've always moved out of the way for any thing, especially if it's flying at me with blasting sirens. WHY would you stay in it's way? That is so incredible rude and dangerous for so many people.
I think they should put cameras on the front of the ambulance and nab every licence plate that does that to them.
4 people like this
@kyliepops (269)
• Australia
16 Jan 07
if and when i see an ambulance i pull right over before they are on my tail getting frustrated! Id hate it if i was in the ambo fighting for my life and some idiot wouldnt get out the way!!
3 people like this
@kyliepops (269)
• Australia
23 Jan 07
Thanks Dan and to you also!!
I rarely see you on EMC these days, oh wait maybe thats cause im here most of the time!!
Hope your doing well!!
@BELMCstar (1341)
• Australia
15 Jan 07
Punctuation would be nice.
I have dealt with a few volunteer ambulance drivers, and they tell me of the times that people don't move out of the way.
I personally, move aside each & every time I see an emergency vehicle of any description, as I have needed an ambulance for my then 5 year old, and know people who have needed the fire brigades to come and save their houses.
What is needed for the ambulances, etc is cameras.
If they had cameras on the front of the vehicles, they could take photos of the vehicles which do not move out of the way, and then they could send them a fine in the mail.
Proof would be there with the photo, and the driver would not be able to refute it at all.
@Silverchic (396)
• Australia
16 Jan 07
By the way Kadia - I think you are doing a fantastic job! I've had a couple of bad accidents in my time and gee I'm glad you guys were around! =) You all deserve a medal for the great work you do - and a lot more appreciation than you get!
2 people like this
@kadia123 (60)
• Australia
15 Jan 07
BELMCstar
unfortunately we will never be able to afford to buy a camera, but the idea is fantastic.
All Volunteer Ambulance Services are not funded by FESA or the govt. We have to fundraise the money ourselves so again it is harder because if we get a call out (which has happened) we have to leave our fundraising venue and head off. There is only 8 off us at this stage with 2 new ones joining. Remember up here our funding is very limited and we have to use our money wisely, like keeping our equipment updated, ambulance serviced, uniforms, water, etc. Yes these are all paid by all us when we get a chance to fundraise, which is not often.
But if you ever see the Ambulance Services please, please donate as we will certainly value your donations.
2 people like this
@Silverchic (396)
• Australia
16 Jan 07
I've seen this soooo many times - I think it annoys me more each time and I'll finally get to the point where I'll be following ambulances around writing down number plates! =)
But seriously - I've seen people who just stop in the middle of the road because they don't want to move up onto the curb, people who speed up to try and stop the ambulance getting past and also the people that have pulled off the side of the road to let an ambulance go past and then get stuck there because nobody will let them back into the flow of traffic!
Come on people! If YOU were in that ambulance I'm sure you would like people to get out of the way so that you could get to a hospital! It's not that hard to just move out of the way for the 10 seconds it takes for an ambulance to get past...
2 people like this
@kadia123 (60)
• Australia
14 Jan 07
What annoys me is that people thinks the size of the ambulance can go anywhere! These new ambulance are way heavier and also have lower height so it makes even harder to mount kerbs, etc.
Please if you see flashing lights, sirens, higbeams on and spot lights on, just move over and stop! Don't move till we pass you.
Yes I am the ambulance officer Adversa is talking about.
A bit of consideration does go along way and one day, just one day it could be you or one of your family or friends that will be in the back, and you will too will want to be taken as quickly as possible.
Also just remember if you do live out in the country areas, most of us are just volunteers and we are very dedicated to helping our community, maybe you should join one as training are all provided and also you get to meet so many nice people who are just as dedicated as yourself.
@Blueniagra (281)
•
22 Jun 07
it's so sad that people nowadays don't get any respect for all their hard work that they put in. People are too conceited these days with themselves, it is terrible how they treat the nice like dirt.
At least some people have hearts, but your friend should really be respected and payed for this, she has worked so hard to get where she is, right?
This is how society works these days, though, but she has all my respect.
