Sirens at 11.30PM

[Devil2575]

Epic thread op, well at least it is if the aim was to let everyone else know what a compete tt you are

[BertBert]

stuart313 said:

So the piss heads and knife scumbags aren't the selfish and inconsiderate ones then? Nice. Maybe if they locked them up for 10 years when they get arrested they would only need to "blue and two it" once every 10 years instead. I wouldn't mind, if you get burgled the police wont even come out it seems yet if bizzer and bozzer are fighting in the street the police cant wait to get down there for a ruck.

You are just looking a knob, making stuff up, trying to make plod out to be the bad people. Your argument is puerile.
Bert

[Bigends]

We were based next to a fire station so never used the sirens when leaving the nick on nights - Firemen got the arse being woken up. Generally on nights we'd only use the sirens on the approach to busy junctions and roundabouts or behind traffic that apparently hadn't seen us - other drivers would generally see us long before they heard the sirens. It was pointless leaving them on along long straight stretches.

[esxste]

If only someone had invented ear plugs...

[rsv696]

http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/north-east-news/l...

No siren late at night. Traffic officer went to prison.

Edited by rsv696 on Thursday 2nd July 09:35

[MrBarry123]

stuart313 said:

Well it seems like they do it to be tts to me.

Yes, that's correct.

Before they set out they think, "Hmm, how can we be tts to stuart313, PH member since 3rd November 2014 and all round wingey bloke? I know, we'll drive past his house each night at 23:30 and put the sirens on for a laugh."

[Ekona]

Is this thread actually for real? Or have I woken up in a parallel universe where the objective is to be as irritatingly obtuse to the real world as possible?

You are an idiot, sir.

[Medic-one]

JumboBeef said:

I drive a rapid responce vehicle (ambulance). Everything I do is logged, speed, breaking, indicators, normal lights etc. Dash cam, blue (and rear reds) and sirens.

When dispatched to an emergency it is policy to use blue lights all the time. Sirens "as required".

Same here.

And you'd be suprised about how many vehicles still don't react at night when we're right behind them, there's blue lights flashing of all the buildings and road signs around them, we're flashing with our main beam, and still no response at all...

Or you're slowly pulling out of a junction, just blue's going, the first car, or maybe first two cars continue driving which is fair enough, i won't expect them to stamp on the brake whilst they are already on the junction, but then you'll get another 5 - 6 cars still trying to push through, even though you're already half on the junction and the rest of the traffic has stopped.

I rarely use my sirens at night, but if i do it will be for a good reason and not to piss of people who might be asleep (safely in their bed, not needing an ambulance...)

[Dammit]

OP is a great example of "I'm all right, sod everyone else", with a good dose of "it's ALL ABOUT ME" thrown in.

Nice.

[budgie smuggler]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hearos-Ear-Plugs-Xtreme-Pr...

For some reason police cars started doing the 'bwa bwa bwa bwa bwaaaaaa' where they rapidly 'blip' the siren off and on outside my flat in Bristol a few years back. It was almost every night for a few weeks then it stopped and I never heard them do it again. Assume they got a few complaints (not from me) because it really was far too loud for 2-4AM.

Anyway I used the above earplugs and they did the job. Maybe cheaper ones would have done, I just got the highest dB rating I could find.

Edited by budgie smuggler on Thursday 2nd July 11:04

[aw51 121565]

Ekona said:

Is this thread actually for real? Or have I woken up in a parallel universe where the objective is to be as irritatingly obtuse to the real world as possible?

It's the usual stuff posted (and not just by the OP but also some of the usual suspects in reply ) whenever there is a full moon or a new moon, with an added frisson of excitement due to the very hot weather.

Same again in two weeks, except perhaps without the heatwave??

[JumboBeef]

rsv696 said:

http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/north-east-news/l...

No siren late at night. Traffic officer went to prison.

Er, bit more to it than that.

94mph in a 30, no lights or sirens. Shocking driving.

Edited by JumboBeef on Thursday 2nd July 11:22

[JumboBeef]

JumboBeef said:

I drive a rapid responce vehicle (ambulance). Everything I do is logged, speed, breaking, indicators, normal lights etc. Dash cam, blue (and rear reds) and sirens.

Obviously all our meal breaks are logged. That is of course what I meant

(before anyone else points it out)

[TwistingMyMelon]

blimey just be thankful that they aren't rushing to you OP, buy ear plugs or stop whingeing you big girls blouse.

A neighbour recently was complaining there were sirens going through our village @ 6:30am on a Sunday. Turns out they were rushing to a little boy that died, paramedics got there in minutes, but it was too late.

My baby daughter choked on her food one evening, she went blue and completely silent, her eyes starting popping out and no breathing, my normally calm misses was in hysterics / . The paramedics arrived at our house in under 3 minutes. For that I am very very grateful. Subsequently I don't have much time for people who whinge about a couple of minutes of noise.

[Earthboundmisfit]

TwistingMyMelon said:

blimey just be thankful that they aren't rushing to you OP, buy ear plugs or stop whingeing you big girls blouse.

A neighbour recently was complaining there were sirens going through our village @ 6:30am on a Sunday. Turns out they were rushing to a little boy that died, paramedics got there in minutes, but it was too late.

My baby daughter choked on her food one evening, she went blue and completely silent, her eyes starting popping out and no breathing, my normally calm misses was in hysterics / . The paramedics arrived at our house in under 3 minutes. For that I am very very grateful. Subsequently I don't have much time for people who whinge about a couple of minutes of noise.

This, this and always this!

[matchmaker]

We live on the direct route between Stirling fire and ambulance stations and Cornton Vale Prison. We can expect the fire brigade being called to the prison maybe twice a week and the ambulance several times - often daily. We always hear the sirens during the day, never at night.

[Martin_M]

JumboBeef said:

I drive a rapid responce vehicle (ambulance). Everything I do is logged, speed, breaking, indicators, normal lights etc. Dash cam, blue (and rear reds) and sirens.

When dispatched to an emergency it is policy to use blue lights all the time. Sirens "as required".

I try very hard not to use sirens at night but, if I have an accident the very first they will look at is "did you have the siren on?"

Night time mean empty roads so you can often travel a lot quicker than during the day. This leads to dilemma of higher speed but no sirens........

No emergency driver uses the sirens (or bull horn) for fun. To be honest, I get sick of the damn noise myself and I'm the one driving!

Interesting post and you answered my question with regard to whether the sirens are compulsory. My experience of being a special constable some years ago was that my driving colleagues would, as you say, only use them as required after 10pm.

On another note, I've always thought that being a rapid response driver would be the ultimate 'move' as a fully qualified paramedic. How do you get that position? Is it based on years service or do you have to sit exams? I would imagine the competition for such posts is high.

[oyster]

The OP may have phrased it a bit wrong, but his point is valid. And indeed re-enforced by several emergency drivers on this thread.

It does seem though that it's the police who prefer to have sirens on at night rather than ambulances.

[JumboBeef]

Martin_M said:

JumboBeef said:

I drive a rapid responce vehicle (ambulance). Everything I do is logged, speed, breaking, indicators, normal lights etc. Dash cam, blue (and rear reds) and sirens.

When dispatched to an emergency it is policy to use blue lights all the time. Sirens "as required".

I try very hard not to use sirens at night but, if I have an accident the very first they will look at is "did you have the siren on?"

Night time mean empty roads so you can often travel a lot quicker than during the day. This leads to dilemma of higher speed but no sirens........

No emergency driver uses the sirens (or bull horn) for fun. To be honest, I get sick of the damn noise myself and I'm the one driving!

Interesting post and you answered my question with regard to whether the sirens are compulsory. My experience of being a special constable some years ago was that my driving colleagues would, as you say, only use them as required after 10pm.

On another note, I've always thought that being a rapid response driver would be the ultimate 'move' as a fully qualified paramedic. How do you get that position? Is it based on years service or do you have to sit exams? I would imagine the competition for such posts is high.

We can use them as required 24 hours a day, not just after 10pm.

Paramedics (generally) either work on an ambulance with a crew mate or solo on a car. Each bring their own challenges.

On a car, you are first on scene, and have to deal with the situation until backup arrives. With big sick patients, this can be a challenge. On my last shift I had to deal with a cardiac arrest until an ambulance backed me up (thankfully it wasn't too long).

But mostly, you are dealing with emergencies on scene and then referring the patient to their own doctor, out of hours doctors or hospital (or no further treatment).

It isn't for everyone. It can be very lonely, spending a lot of time in the car by yourself. And you go into situations with drugs, drunks, assaults etc by yourself. A dingy flat at 4am with a drunk metal health patient who has self harmed, and his/her drunk friends sitting around watching you and no backup available is a pretty dark place to be.

But you do get to choose which radio station to listen to all shift

In short, once you are a Paramedic with decent amount of experience then you can (mostly) choose if you want to work on an ambulance or car. Some do both. I just do the car.

National shortage of Paramedics. Here is just one advert: http://www.betterparamedic.co.uk/

[Martin_M]

Thanks for the info - interesting reading. I'm not sure if the Scottish Ambulance Service pays their paramedics as well as the South Western Ambulance Service does as any time I looked at adverts etc. the top end wasn't even close to £35k I don't think. Ever since paramedics saved the life of my 10 year old little cousin who had a blood clot on the brain in the early hours, I have always said that you guys should get a lot more.

I would have liked to see the ambulance service offer an accelerated promotion scheme much like the police. Whilst learning on the job must be invaluable, having to start as a technician must put some people off I would have thought.

What is your rapid response vehicle? I live across the road from a senior ambulance service employee who has an unmarked honda crv with lights/siren etc.