Talk about response time

[FROGMAN524]

 

[wzuber]

That suxx.... appears he almost got stopped in time but still gave that little car a good punch. Spun it about 2x's maybe? So what do they do in that sitchuation? Stop and render aid to the driver or carry onto their existing call? Tough position to be in.
Seems they would call off their run and stay there to render aid then go if all is ok?

 

[scottchbrite]

That suxx.... appears he almost got stopped in time but still gave that little car a good punch. Spun it about 2x's maybe? So what do they do in that sitchuation? Stop and render aid to the driver or carry onto their existing call? Tough position to be in.
Seems they would call off their run and stay there to render aid then go if all is ok?

Notify dispatch that you were involved in a traffic collision and to start the next closest unit to the call you were responding to, start an ambulance to your accident, and add a Battalion Chief. Next, Assess your crew, then begin checking for injuries on the other people. PD will begin a through investigation and there will be a lot of paperwork.
Code 3 does not make you exempt from red lights at intersections.You have to drive with due regard. Every big department has had to deal with this unfortunately.

 

[yz450mm]

Notify dispatch that you were involved in a traffic collision and to start the next closest unit to the call you were responding to, start an ambulance to your accident, and add a Battalion Chief. Next, Assess your crew, then begin checking for injuries on the other people. PD will begin a through investigation and there will be a lot of paperwork.
Code 3 does not make you exempt from red lights at intersections.You have to drive with due regard. Every big department has had to deal with this unfortunately.

Stop at grocery store on way home for ice cream for whole department, go back to station and prepare for the ass kicking you are about to receive from everyone with the word "Chief" in their title.

 

[4Waters]

Stop at grocery store on way home for ice cream for whole department, go back to station and prepare for the ass kicking you are about to receive from everyone with the word "Chief" in their title.

DEI Engineer.....

Engineer didn't do anything wrong. Shit happens and this is why most if not all private ambulance companies require you to stop even though the law only requires the driver to slow to 10mph (it's been a while so I may have the speed wrong)

 

[wzuber]

Notify dispatch that you were involved in a traffic collision and to start the next closest unit to the call you were responding to, start an ambulance to your accident, andody else in the cab sitting add a Battalion Chief. Next, Assess your crew, then begin checking for injuries on the other people. PD will begin a through investigation and there will be a lot of paperwork.
Code 3 does not make you exempt from red lights at intersections.You have to drive with due regard. Every big department has had to deal with this unfortunately.

Isn't there somebody else in the right seat up there watching and notifying the engineer too as a team? Seems whenever I see eng. co's on the road there's always 2 people in the cab.

 

[FlyByWire]

Oof. Gotta clear those intersections, boys.

It happens to all of us though. Glad that one was pretty minor.

 

[wzuber]

I hate seeing things like that develop in real time and all you can do is sit and observe.
A couple years back I was stopped at an intersection in the left turn lane. Coming towards me and making a left turn on opposite side of intersection was an ambulance in response to call. In my rear view mirror I see a big rig tractor, no trailer, charging down the street from behind me. All other lanes were full of stopped vehicles waiting on the traffic light. The asshat driving the rig swerves into the open far right turn lane and keeps charging passing stopped cars. I look forward and see the point of convergence rapidly developing. The big rig had to have been grinding the sidewalls on the curb face to fit thru. He made it thru and t-boned the van type ambulance just behind the cockpit. The occupants exited the ambulance apparently unharmed. My light turned green and I continued on my way. Made me sick to my stomach to see that occur.

 

[wzuber]

We will Wait for the Retired Battalion Chief's Decision / He had a Bird's Eye View From the Bus Bench....

Interesting, where did this occur?

 

[scottchbrite]

Isn't there somebody else in the right seat up there watching and notifying the engineer too as a team? Seems whenever I see eng. co's on the road there's always 2 people in the cab.

Yeah, hopefully. It’s how we do it. The captain sits right front. He may be looking at updated call notes, hydrant locations, talking on the radio, etc. Captains sometimes have to do more than payroll, staffing changes, and push buttons on the iPad.

 

[4Waters]

Isn't there somebody else in the right seat up there watching and notifying the engineer too as a team? Seems whenever I see eng. co's on the road there's always 2 people in the cab.

The captain sits shotgun

 

[pavski2]

Engineer didn't do anything wrong. Shit happens and this is why most if not all private ambulance companies require you to stop even though the law only requires the driver to slow to 10mph (it's been a while so I may have the speed wrong)

I will disagree, the Engineer never cleared the intersection. They had a red light, and yes you can proceed through 10 mph BUT only after you have make sure all traffic has stoped or "yielded" to you. The measure is "due regard" and it is usually your fault if you have a red. My opinion (I have been driving these for 16 years now) Engineer should have slowed enough to see that traffic had yielded to them and then proceeded. Now comes the Memo: Dear Chief, no one was more surprised as I was when I hit the car in the intersection, I am sorry. I was driving for this now famous internet photo, she didn't yield.

 

[4Waters]

I will disagree, the Engineer never cleared the intersection. They had a red light, and yes you can proceed through 10 mph BUT only after you have make sure all traffic has stoped or "yielded" to you. The measure is "due regard" and it is usually your fault if you have a red. My opinion (I have been driving these for 16 years now) Engineer should have slowed enough to see that traffic had yielded to them and then proceeded. Now comes the Memo: Dear Chief, no one was more surprised as I was when I hit the car in the intersection, I am sorry. I was driving for this now famous internet photo, she didn't yield.

Bitch! Got a few of those myself.

 

[wzuber]

I will disagree, the Engineer never cleared the intersection. They had a red light, and yes you can proceed through 10 mph BUT only after you have make sure all traffic has stoped or "yielded" to you. The measure is "due regard" and it is usually your fault if you have a red. My opinion (I have been driving these for 16 years now) Engineer should have slowed enough to see that traffic had yielded to them and then proceeded. Now comes the Memo: Dear Chief, no one was more surprised as I was when I hit the car in the intersection, I am sorry. I was driving for this now famous internet photo, she didn't yield.

Did the capt. open the door as you went by and give her a congratulatory nudge to the ground for the #1 designation?
Fukin people

 

[Taboma]

Notify dispatch that you were involved in a traffic collision and to start the next closest unit to the call you were responding to, start an ambulance to your accident, and add a Battalion Chief. Next, Assess your crew, then begin checking for injuries on the other people. PD will begin a through investigation and there will be a lot of paperwork.
Code 3 does not make you exempt from red lights at intersections.You have to drive with due regard. Every big department has had to deal with this unfortunately.

I thought they had the roof mounted strobes to change the signal lights ?

 

[DarkHorseRacing]

Does the fire or police even have the ability change street lights to their advantage? It would make sense for them needing to get somewhere quick but then I wonder how easy it would be for someone to spoof it and then cause havoc with it.

 

[yz450mm]

I thought they had the roof mounted strobes to change the signal lights ?

Does the fire or police even have the ability change street lights to their advantage? It would make sense for them needing to get somewhere quick but then I wonder how easy it would be for someone to spoof it and then cause havoc with it.

In the past, they were called Opticom systems. Units have a white strobe that flashes on the top light bar at a certain frequency, which cycles the light to green in their approaching direction.

Not all signal systems are equipped with them, and not all departments have strobes on the units. It might be called something else now, but I still see the opticom sensors on a lot of traffic lights.

 

[throttle]

45,000lbs coming in hot, luckily that didn't kill someone.

I still today have Captains that think they can clear blind intersections at night to get to fires faster. Sorry, not when I am driving...

it may suck getting beat in your first due but its worse not getting there at all!

 

[pavski2]

45,000lbs coming in hot, luckily that didn't kill someone.

I still today have Captains that think they can clear blind intersections at night to get to fires faster. Sorry, not when I am driving...

it may suck getting beat in your first due but its worse not getting there at all!

Wholly agree, can't fix a problem you don't get too

 

[calkid]

Isn't there somebody else in the right seat up there watching and notifying the engineer too as a team? Seems whenever I see eng. co's on the road there's always 2 people in the cab.

Whoever calls "shotgun" first

 

[scottchbrite]

I thought they had the roof mounted strobes to change the signal lights?

Not in the city I CHOOSE to work in. It makes it a little more exciting going to calls
I Work in a City that went bankrupt and was annexed by the County. Just getting decent equipment and semi renovated stations has taken years.

 

[Gramps]

I'd think the engineer driving that rig is in deep shit/

 

[old rigger]

Where did this take place? Gas isn't $3.39 a gallon where I live.

 

[Moabifam5]

Not in the city I CHOOSE to work in. It makes it a little more exciting going to calls
I Work in a City that went bankrupt and was annexed by the County. Just getting decent equipment and semi renovated stations has taken years.

You must be in SBDC, correct?

 

[Gramps]

Where did this take place? Gas isn't $3.39 a gallon where I live.

LA Echo Park area

 

[Kachina26]

Where did this take place? Gas isn't $3.39 a gallon where I live.

Me neither, talk about pricy. Paid $2.26 yesterday.

Now, back to our regular scheduled debating the finer points of emergency response.

 

[DLC]

In order to finish 1st….

You need to 1st finish the race !

Whether your racing to a fire or medical emergency !

 

[Ziggy]

Hard to beat the embarrassment of colliding with a lights & siren blaring emergency vehicle.

 

[old rigger]

LA Echo Park area

Me neither, talk about pricy. Paid $2.26 yesterday.

Now, back to our regular scheduled debating the finer points of emergency response.

Crazy, still over $4.50 here in Long Beach.

 

[old rigger]

My FIL spent almost his entire career as an engineer, a job he always wanted to do. Said he had several close calls of being hit going through intersections.
He also always drove with a shotgun mounted in the cab since being shot at during the Watts riots in the '60s.

 

[73mandella]

Based on what I recall about California, the driver of an authorized emergency vehicle responding to an emergency call must drive with due regard for the safety of all persons using the highway.

 

[Orange Juice]

In the past, they were called Opticom systems. Units have a white strobe that flashes on the top light bar at a certain frequency, which cycles the light to green in their approaching direction.

Not all signal systems are equipped with them, and not all departments have strobes on the units. It might be called something else now, but I still see the opticom sensors on a lot of traffic lights.

We had to put one on a gate in Chandlers, AZ to meet some city code requirements. It’s suppose to automatically open the gate, when the strobes are detected.