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Goal: Crew safety above all else. Keep patient count from increasing. When we say mitigating or abating emergencies or hazards, we mean it literally.
A Pennsylvania woman “rushing to the emergency room to be with a family member” wrecked and ended up in a different emergency room.
Dear public: This is why we don’t run or drive recklessly or push you into the intersection at red lights without any open lanes.
I always tell family members not to follow the ambulance, and sometimes even go as far as asking PD or fire to hold them up for a few minutes while we take off. Even then, I can’t even count how many times these people end up tailgating us all the way to the hospital.
Other times I tell family members to just meet us at the hospital later since EDs make them wait in the lobby anyway.
I always remind them to drive safely and ask if they have a vehicle that is working properly.
I always wonder if anyone listens to me anyway.
“I [...] sometimes even go as far as asking PD or fire to hold them up for a few minutes while we take off. ”
They can do that? I thought the PD couldn’t hold anyone up unless they were being arrested.
just informally keep them from leaving right away to tailgate the ambulance; you know, give the ambulance a head start.
Just found your blog and spent the last two hours reading dammit! Absolutely hilarious shit. Why do so many people hesitate to tell it like it really is.
Great reading, thanks!
Mike Cyra, author of Emergency Laughter