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Ambulance Drivers in Fairfax
Posted by: Curelary ()
Date: July 09, 2009 11:56AM

Yesterday I was on Route 50 and an ambulance with its emergency lights on was approaching a crowded intersection. There was an open lane on his right, but instead of taking it, he stopped behind two lanes of stopped cars and pushed through each of them, some of the cars having to enter the center of the intersection.

I have had this happen to me before, I was in the middle of three lanes at a red light, and instead of the ambulance taking the open lanes on both sides of me, he got behind me and blew his horn until I got into the median.

Police and fire trucks always maneuver around cars, sometimes driving on the median, but never the ambulances. They are only delaying their response time by playing these games.

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Re: Ambulance Drivers in Fairfax
Posted by: RESton Peace ()
Date: July 09, 2009 12:21PM

Technically he shouldn't have had to even stop... the middle of traffic is obliged to part before he arrives.

I see this all the time and agree they should just use open space, but they are trained a certain way and going outside of training in that situation could be dangerous. Not sure what the merit of that method is.

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Re: Ambulance Drivers in Fairfax
Posted by: RCG239 ()
Date: July 09, 2009 12:55PM

Well Curelary, I'm sure Ffx Co. Fire and Rescue would love it if you offered them a seminar on tactical driving and emergency response, based on your wealth of knowledge.

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Re: Ambulance Drivers in Fairfax
Posted by: Curelary ()
Date: July 09, 2009 12:58PM

RCG239 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well Curelary, I'm sure Ffx Co. Fire and Rescue
> would love it if you offered them a seminar on
> tactical driving and emergency response, based on
> your wealth of knowledge.



Thanks! My seminars are given bi-monthly and I offer group discounts.

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Re: Ambulance Drivers in Fairfax
Posted by: bdimag ()
Date: July 09, 2009 01:34PM

probably supposed to do as few maneuvers as possible when they've got someone in the back



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/09/2009 01:34PM by bdimag.

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Re: Ambulance Drivers in Fairfax
Posted by: 496 ()
Date: July 09, 2009 01:45PM

when its your unresponsive fat ass in the back of it you'll be glad they did it their way.

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Re: Ambulance Drivers in Fairfax
Posted by: if you rode the bus I drove it ()
Date: July 09, 2009 03:30PM

Amazing how a few people know everyone elses jobs better than those trained to do them, Wow , now its even come down to ragging on firemen

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Re: Ambulance Drivers in Fairfax
Posted by: King ()
Date: July 09, 2009 03:33PM

if you rode the bus I drove it Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Amazing how a few people know everyone elses jobs
> better than those trained to do them, Wow , now
> its even come down to ragging on firemen

Uhh, we are talking about EMTs, not fireman.


PS - stop the fucking bus, I have been pulling this wire for a mile now!

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Re: Ambulance Drivers in Fairfax
Posted by: please do some research ()
Date: July 09, 2009 03:38PM

King Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> if you rode the bus I drove it Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Amazing how a few people know everyone elses
> jobs
> > better than those trained to do them, Wow , now
> > its even come down to ragging on firemen
>
> Uhh, we are talking about EMTs, not fireman.

Once again misinformed, All Fairfax county personnel are firefighters first and later trained as medics (come on EMT, is so 80s). All go through the same training and same EVOC course for driving, anything else?
>
>
> PS - stop the fucking bus, I have been pulling
> this wire for a mile now!

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Re: Ambulance Drivers in Fairfax
Posted by: Curelary ()
Date: July 09, 2009 03:42PM

A lot of ambulances are privately owned these days, I don't know if they have the same standards as county personnel.

Also, I wasn't ragging on the personnel, it just seems if you have an emergency to attend to, you would take the easiest and quickest route, not sit behind 20 cars and blow your horn when there are open lanes you can take.

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Re: Ambulance Drivers in Fairfax
Posted by: 4wheeler ()
Date: July 09, 2009 05:35PM

Curelary Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Also, I wasn't ragging on the personnel, it just
> seems if you have an emergency to attend to, you
> would take the easiest and quickest route, not sit
> behind 20 cars and blow your horn when there are
> open lanes you can take.


Right because is so much easier and safer to zig-zag all over the road.

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Re: Ambulance Drivers in Fairfax
Posted by: HereAndThere ()
Date: July 09, 2009 05:42PM

Easiest and quickest are not always the same thing. When it's your non-exersize-fastfood-face-stuffing-cigarette-smoking-alcoholic-drug-shooting-careless-driving-piece of shit body that's on that stretcher, you might want that paramedic to have a slight chance in hell to put those tubes in you to keep your taxpayer-fed life support beeping until your family says goodbye.

I happen to know exactly what you were talking about. I was at Monument Drive and Fair Lakes Pkwy yesterday around 4pm ish, and saw the same FFx ambulance turning into the kaiser-permenentae building.

It's better to get to the emergency in one piece, safe, and sound than it is to never get there at all because you zig zagged like a moron and wrapped it around a tree.

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Re: Ambulance Drivers in Fairfax
Posted by: Lawman ()
Date: July 09, 2009 09:17PM

HereAndThere Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Easiest and quickest are not always the same
> thing. When it's your
> non-exersize-fastfood-face-stuffing-cigarette-smok
> ing-alcoholic-drug-shooting-careless-driving-piece
> of shit body that's on that stretcher, you might
> want that paramedic to have a slight chance in
> hell to put those tubes in you to keep your
> taxpayer-fed life support beeping until your
> family says goodbye.
>
> I happen to know exactly what you were talking
> about. I was at Monument Drive and Fair Lakes Pkwy
> yesterday around 4pm ish, and saw the same FFx
> ambulance turning into the kaiser-permenentae
> building.
>
> It's better to get to the emergency in one piece,
> safe, and sound than it is to never get there at
> all because you zig zagged like a moron and
> wrapped it around a tree.

+1.


If driving around cars was better and safer, the ambulances would be doing that instead.

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Re: Ambulance Drivers in Fairfax
Posted by: FireManSam ()
Date: July 09, 2009 09:41PM

I've seen a boatload of ambo drivers, and those "incident commander" SUV's hauling ass WITHOUT their lights and sirens on....god knows where they were going....but they were stopping at lights etc. so I can only imagine that they were running late for a latte.

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Re: Ambulance Drivers in Fairfax
Posted by: Fred ()
Date: July 09, 2009 10:05PM

If the emergency vehicle zig zags through traffic the problem becomes that the driver of the emergency vehicle never knows in which direction the cars in front of him are going to move, thus the chances of an accident would increase. It's far safer for them to have a straight path through traffic.

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Re: Ambulance Drivers in Fairfax
Posted by: Lawman ()
Date: July 09, 2009 10:21PM

Fred Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If the emergency vehicle zig zags through traffic
> the problem becomes that the driver of the
> emergency vehicle never knows in which direction
> the cars in front of him are going to move, thus
> the chances of an accident would increase. It's
> far safer for them to have a straight path through
> traffic.

Good thinking, especially with how horribly people drive around here as it is.

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