Understanding the Use of Sirens and Light by EMS Providers

Flashing lights and wailing sirens have been standard equipment of emergency medical service vehicles for many years. They were introduced back in the day with the aim of decreasing the time taken by emergency medical providers to reach the locations where accidents, injuries, or serious illnesses have occurred. Furthermore, they also ensured that less time is taken when transporting the victim to a care center while keeping the medical providers safe at the scene of occurrence.
History

When the EMS response was first established, it was more focused on the fire department where the founders thought that the earlier the fire brigade arrived, the faster the spread of fire would be curbed and this meant that more lives and people’s property would be saved. With time, that same logic was implemented in the medical department where they reasoned that, the faster a patient gets transported to the hospital, the higher his or her chances of a positive outcome are.

The Present

In today’s world, the use of these sirens and lights have been put under research and this has led to a significant change in the way emergency medical providers use them. For instance, a conducted research revealed that EMS personnel are more likely not to use lights and sirens when transporting a woman suffering from a heart condition to the emergency room as they would when transporting a heart patient who is a man. Waco ems considers heart attacks and cardiac problems as true emergencies where time is a factor that contributes to the outcome results and they champion for the use of flashing lights on both genders due to its severity.
EMS Guidelines

Below are the categories of conditions that should prompt EMS providers to turn on the siren and lights:

• Severe trauma
• Cardiac arrest
• Pregnancy
• Loss of a person’s consciousness
• Respiratory arrest
• Obstructed airways

In order to maximize safety for pedestrians, EMS providers, the patients’, and the non-medical traffic, qualified drivers with years of experience are the people put behind the wheels of EMS vehicles.