Are sirens and lights always a must?
Sirens and lights on emergency vehicles are a sight that some people may see pretty frequently especially if they are living in the vicinities of hospitals or fire stations. The sound and light emitted by sirens and lights are not very pleasant to listen or watch, but these are often necessities to ensure better patient care or speedy law enforcement so that people often put up with it in the larger interests of the society. Still, is it always necessary for emergency vehicles to sport sirens and lights?
When they hear and see ambulances or police vehicles with blaring sirens and lights, other vehicles of the road instinctively move over to the other lane and give way because they are duty bound to do so. It is fully known that both sirens and lights pose a health hazard to those on the street and more so to the people operating the emergency vehicles. Continued exposure to the high decibel sounds of a siren can impair hearing after a while, while the glare from the lights of an emergency vehicle has been said to disorient other drivers or cause the 'moth effect' and distract them.
Still, as of now, no viable alternatives exist for the use of sirens and lights. The combined use of both has been found to be the only way in which other vehicles can be warned to let the speeding emergency vehicles pass without obstruction as getting fast help could be a matter of life and death at the emergency site. However, despite the full use of sirens and lights, there have been many accidents involving speeding ambulances or fire trucks and other vehicles. In some instances, the speeding emergency vehicles have themselves collided with each other resulting in fatalities.
While it may not be possible to completely avoid the use of sirens and lights, accidents can be avoided and health hazards minimized by reducing the use of sirens and lights as much as possible. It is the time critical factor of the situation that always gives emergency vehicles the privilege to use sirens and lights and disregard traffic rules. As far as the condition of the patient or the situation at the emergency site is available, and it is not serious enough that a few minutes could make all the difference in the world, an emergency vehicle could proceed without sirens and lights. Even if that may not be possible while going to collect a patient, while taking the patient to the hospital it is often possible to reduce the speed as there will be a clear picture of the patient condition.
Several studies have been conducted to decide whether the faster speed at which an ambulance or fire truck is allowed to proceed is actually helping it to gain a lot of time. In some places it was found that emergency vehicles that used sirens and lights and moved faster just got a benefit of an average 43.5 seconds than those which did not use it, whereas in other places the difference varied from 1 to 3 minutes. It has been pointed out that though the time could be statistically of some significance, except in rare instances, that much time difference is clinically insignificant. When we also consider that by using sirens and lights and moving superfast, the vehicles are themselves increasing their possibilities of collision and crash, there is every reason for them to consider limiting its use only to dire situations.
When they hear and see ambulances or police vehicles with blaring sirens and lights, other vehicles of the road instinctively move over to the other lane and give way because they are duty bound to do so. It is fully known that both sirens and lights pose a health hazard to those on the street and more so to the people operating the emergency vehicles. Continued exposure to the high decibel sounds of a siren can impair hearing after a while, while the glare from the lights of an emergency vehicle has been said to disorient other drivers or cause the 'moth effect' and distract them.
Still, as of now, no viable alternatives exist for the use of sirens and lights. The combined use of both has been found to be the only way in which other vehicles can be warned to let the speeding emergency vehicles pass without obstruction as getting fast help could be a matter of life and death at the emergency site. However, despite the full use of sirens and lights, there have been many accidents involving speeding ambulances or fire trucks and other vehicles. In some instances, the speeding emergency vehicles have themselves collided with each other resulting in fatalities.
While it may not be possible to completely avoid the use of sirens and lights, accidents can be avoided and health hazards minimized by reducing the use of sirens and lights as much as possible. It is the time critical factor of the situation that always gives emergency vehicles the privilege to use sirens and lights and disregard traffic rules. As far as the condition of the patient or the situation at the emergency site is available, and it is not serious enough that a few minutes could make all the difference in the world, an emergency vehicle could proceed without sirens and lights. Even if that may not be possible while going to collect a patient, while taking the patient to the hospital it is often possible to reduce the speed as there will be a clear picture of the patient condition.
Several studies have been conducted to decide whether the faster speed at which an ambulance or fire truck is allowed to proceed is actually helping it to gain a lot of time. In some places it was found that emergency vehicles that used sirens and lights and moved faster just got a benefit of an average 43.5 seconds than those which did not use it, whereas in other places the difference varied from 1 to 3 minutes. It has been pointed out that though the time could be statistically of some significance, except in rare instances, that much time difference is clinically insignificant. When we also consider that by using sirens and lights and moving superfast, the vehicles are themselves increasing their possibilities of collision and crash, there is every reason for them to consider limiting its use only to dire situations.