EMERGENCY DRIVING

1
EMERGENCY DRIVING

• EMT 170
• Cars Radios

2
Hippocratic Oath First, do no further harm.
3
The Problem

• 6,500 reported crashes per year
• 60,000 Wake affect crashes
• 10 serious injuries a day
• 3 dozen deaths a year
• 9.6 per 100,000 fatalities
• 6.3 for police
• 4.5 for fire fighters
• 2.0 for average citizen

4
The Problem

• NHTSA
• No ambulance safety standards
• No crash testing
• Code 3
• Only saves 43.5 seconds average
• Only 5 of EMS calls are emergencies
• 30-45 end in no transport
• How well is your cardiac patient doing?

5
The Solution?

• New standards?
• Driver training/monitoring
• Company policies
• Seat belts, speed, equipment secured
• Dispatch prioritization
• Ambulance design
• Safety, color, lights sirens
• Ambulance maintenance

6
Ambulance Driver

• Yes, we are still one
• The other side of patient care
• Keep the whole transport safe
• Offensively Defensive

7
Buckle Up

• Fatality risk for restrained ambulance occupants
  nearly four times lower
• Risk of incapacitating injury for restrained
  ambulance occupants was nearly 6.5 times lower
• Risk of a fatality vs. no injury for rear
  occupants of an ambulance was more than five
  times greater

8
Response Time

• Running to the Ambulance
• Adrenalin
• Lights and sirens
• Speed

9
Lights

• Too many lights
• Uncoordinated
• Glare
• Sun
• Spot
• When not to use

10
Siren

• Field of Invincibility??
• Speech
• Sound projection
• Different modes
• PA
• Silent
• Different tones

11
Speed

• Code 3 Save 40 seconds
• Passing
• Positioning (Telegraphing)
• On the left
• Following others
• Distance
• Emergency vehicles

12
Intersections

• Lights
• Opticoms
• 20mph max thru intersections (Wilson Heirgood
  Associates)
• Clear
• Eye contact
• Visibility
• Passing the turner

13
Ambulance and patrol car run into in intersection!
14
Passing

• Always on the left
• Never (Almost Never) on the right
• Using the side of the road

15
Turning

• U-turn
• Three point

16
Slowing/Stopping

• Braking
• How hard
• Steering
• Avoid head on!!!

17
Parking at the Scene

• Pre-plan
• What kind of scene
• Safety
• Blocking traffic
• Access
• Egress (Getn out o there)

18
Be Smart, Be Safe