Red Mist Avoidance

[medic417]

omg. u seriously should try just going with lights and no siren sometimes. when it's 5am and only 10 cars are out, u dont need 2 wake the entire town with ur sirens, but the rig lights change the stoplights.

we dont actually "pick routes" so-to-speak. just sometimes u know certains streets can have more cars parked on the side (making it a one way street sometimes) or some have more children to be aware of playing and u choose which would be faster depending on the time and day.

FDGBs here are rarely serious. I just used that as an example. But seriously. A frequent flyer who calls because they are "too relaxed" is not as high of a priority as an MCI MVA. If you don't know that, I hope you never do triage.

And I'm not really going to argue the "pushy" thing. I never drive so I can't give a true description of what is meant.

I just know that if I were the driver, I would want to know what I'm going to, especially if I'm the EMT.

Perhaps you need to study the laws in regards to the use of L&S. Many states require the use of of both or the use of neither while in motion.

 

[Seaglass]

I agree that it makes sense for flight, but I'm not so sure about ground. While my agency says we respond l/s to everything, we'll be a bit quicker about it for some calls. For instance, we had one recently where the initial dispatch was "sick kid." That's pretty common--we have a couple parents who will call 911 if their little snowflake so much as sneezes at night--so we cruise on out. En route, dispatch advises that sick means severe respiratory distress. Are we going to drive a bit faster? Yeah. While our response times should always be the same in theory, in practice, the complaint matters.

 

[RescueYou]

I'm sorry. It's hard to take someone seriously who doesn't write out a three letter word ("you"). It really doesn't gain much respect in a professional setting.

We're in an open and relaxed forum. This isn't a call sheet.

 

[FLEMTP]

We're in an open and relaxed forum. This isn't a call sheet.

Not to mention some people do use mobile devices to post on here, and sometimes its quicker and easier to say "u" instead of you and "nite" instead of night..etc.

 

[Jon]

We're in an open and relaxed forum. This isn't a call sheet.

Not to mention some people do use mobile devices to post on here, and sometimes its quicker and easier to say "u" instead of you and "nite" instead of night..etc.

Both of you are correct... however I personally hate the "txt speak" that seems to creep into our everyday language. Its one thing to see it in the chatroom, another to use it in email or a forum like this.

Remember - You represent AT LEAST yourself in every post you make here. Do you want others to respect you, or ignore your posts because they can't understand them?

I occasionally post with an iPhone. Guess what - the word recognition is awesome and knows what I'm saying. I just find the screen and interface is more cumbersome compared to a computer, so I usually wait until I can find a WiFi signal for my laptop.

Anyway - Sorry for threadjacking. Let the good discussion continue.

 

[wyoskibum]

I occasionally post with an iPhone. Guess what - the word recognition is awesome and knows what I'm saying..

I wish my iPhone knew what I was saying! I find myself re-correcting the word recognition more often than naught! B)

 

[medichopeful]

Remember - You represent AT LEAST yourself in every post you make here. Do you want others to respect you, or ignore your posts because they can't understand them?

Exactly. Plus, in a way, you represent the profession as a whole.

 

[reaper]

Has nothing to do with posting from a phone. It has to do with the laziness of society.

Learn to spell everything out and you will do it every time. Shows competency in writing and people will take you seriously!

 

[EMSLaw]

Our general rule is RLS to all emergency calls (so, not to standbys and the like), and then the person in charge of patient care makes the determination of how we're going to go to the hospital - though in most cases, the transport is flow of traffic. That seems to be the agreed-upon standard for most of the protocols I'm familiar with around here, though some squads require RLS whenever a patient is in the ambulance, which I think is a silly and pointless policy.

One of my pet peeves is when the dispatcher asks us to "proceed with caution." That's code for "no lights and sirens", but I drive with caution at all times, ESPECIALLY when using lights and sirens.

 

[TraprMike]

Learned this long ago

We as the first responders to incidents, med calls, crimes, anything,, we all must get there to help who called..
drive as safely, and quickly as you can to get there..

I personaly have code just over 10 miles at a whapping rate of 30-35 mph, lights,but no noise, to calls on wide open roads.. in a snowstorm/fog. limited visability.. talk about a possability of out driving your lights..

We all have been called on a "I think my hubby is having a heart attack" and it turned out to be something else.. Most of the time these calls are legit and the caller knows what is going on,, sometimes,, well,, worst case comes into play.

for us, it's a code call all the time, until proven otherwise.

 

[iamjeff171]

in my area, dispatch directs whether or not to use lights/sirens based on call priority. L&S are typicaly used unless in a neighborhood(especially at night), and then its only lights. no need to wake up the entire neighborhood and end up with a big ole crowd on the scene.

-Jeff

 

[DrParasite]

First rule of dispatch: you are there to make the job of field crews easier, whenever you can. if you are giving them just the location without the nature than you are doing them a disservice. the mindset and equipment you would being in for a GSW or an abdominal pain are completely different. Not only that, but there are scene safety concerns and requests for additional resource that are easier to anticipate when you know what you are going into.

my service also dispatches all the helicopters state wide. the flight crews are always given the nature of the call. they might not relay the information to the pilot, but the pilot is not a medical person. the just fly the ship, and sometimes help with the cot. not only that, but the flight crews are usually landing on a scene that already has ALS and/or BLS working the patient. much different than going in cold.

When I am on the SCT/CCT team, as their driver, I am always told what we have. most of the time it's a non emergency transfer. i am not going to rush to pick up a stable patient. occasionally the doc (our PICU and NICU teams transport with a doc and RN) will say to use L&S, which I have found doesn't help on the highways, usually only on roads with traffic lights. But if the doc is saying the patient is deteriorating, or has a high probability of deteriorating, and the deterioration needs a hospital not an ambulance, then yes I will go a little faster, while still driving in a safe manner.

For 911 calls, I, and every agency I work for, respond with L&S to everything. you never know what you have until you get on scene and actually perform an assessment. plus, dispatch has been known to be wrong, especially with 4th and 3rd party calls. once the patient has been assessed, stabilized, and in your ambulance to be transported, then it will be a L&S transport or no L&S transport, depending on conditions.