Ambulances

[EMS3]

Good evening;

Edited question; put too much information the first time.

Basically wondering your thoughts and whether you would cite an ambulance for speeding with or without a patient in the back, and for traveling emergent or non-emergenct.

Thank you for all the input, and continue to be safe in your careers, and God bless you and your families!

[retdetsgt]

I guess what I am asking for is individual LEO input on their opinions regarding ambulances violating the speed limit, patient in the back or not, and not driving emergent (code 3). Several times, we have been driving about 80 MPH and passed units presumably running radar, who have just waved at us. I have to wonder though, if it is aggravating to you to see an ambulance speeding. Would you initiate a traffic stop? What if there is a patient in the back?

If I saw an ambulance driving 80 mph with no lights and siren, I'd stop it and I might give the driver a ticket. And I never gave out many tickets. It's illegal, not to mention poor judgement. There's a very good reason for speed limits and also for exceptions to them. A routine transfer of a patient from one hospital to another isn't one.

Not to mention, if you get in a wreck driving that fast non code 3 and your patient is injured or killed, your life will never be the same. Is it really worth that risk?

[Joeyd6]

I worked in EMS part-time to pay my way through college. I am well aware how to drive an ambulance. I have driven a bus when a cop was shot and bleeding in the back, to CPR, to broken arms. Getting to a ER in two minutes is not as important ans getting there so the folks in the back can work and the patient is comforatble. Ambulances are big boxes that ride rough and react to any movement.

Having said that, in teh most critical emergencies, we may have had the lighst and sirens going, but I was usually well under the speed limit. Smooth is fast. There were very few times I actually got to gun it, and one was on a organ transplant on a highway that was shut down by the police so we could get through.

And any medic who drives over the limit to get back back to the area of responsibility is an idiot. Let the clock run and they can pay me overtime or send another unit.

[scott715us]

It's not a good idea and probably against company policy. If you are involved in a wreck, whether it was your fault or not, speed will be determined based on traffic reconstruction and the driver (or EMT) may be cited. It is really going to be bad in civil court (i.e. lawsuit) if you were flying down the road at the time of the crash. It doesn't look good for ambulances to be traveling that fast when lights & sirens are not activated. I know it's probably done all over the U.S. when EMS units, whether private or city/county, drive quick to get from point A to point B to get back to the hall, off shift, etc. I think it could be easily said that it's frowned upon by administrators and something that will bite you in the arse (severely) if anything ever goes south. Those policies are in place for two reason: #1 (and the most important)- it's safer to driver slower and #2 - it's a CYA policy for those in the upper ranks who put you through the training and taught you to drive according to policy.

As far as whether I would cite or not, it depends on the speed, road condition, traffic, purpose for speeding, etc.

[EMS3]

I thank you all for the information, and those thoughts have all crossed my mind at one time or another. I should clarify, I was working when I wrote the initial post and got a call at the end, and had to end the post quickly, so it may have seemed that we do nothing but speed. It's mostly when getting to a call at a facility or getting back to district for calls holding.

Anyway, thanks again for the input, it's nice to get an opinion from the other side!

God Bless you and your families!

[JR180]

Good evening;

Edited question; put too much information the first time.

Basically wondering your thoughts and whether you would cite an ambulance for speeding with or without a patient in the back, and for traveling emergent or non-emergenct.

Thank you for all the input, and continue to be safe in your careers, and God bless you and your families!

I would never ticket an ambulance driver unless they were acting recklessly and caused a crash, hit a pedestrian, or pulled into Mc D's. I am of the opinion that if they can be incharge of a persons life they should be able to make the correct choices on how to drive and I would probably give them the benefit of the doubt.

[greg72982]

I would never ticket an ambulance driver unless they were acting recklessly and caused a crash, hit a pedestrian, or pulled into Mc D's. I am of the opinion that if they can be incharge of a persons life they should be able to make the correct choices on how to drive and I would probably give them the benefit of the doubt.

My opinion is if it's not a big enough emergency to have your lights and siren activated then you don't need to be driving 80 mph. Even 80 mph with lights and sirens is ill-advised in an ambulance.