Ask a Paramedic anything at all...
Discussion
Crossflow Kid said:
It depends on the circumstances. Sometimes the siren just isn't required. Besides, there are scenarios where it isn't the constant noise that alerts people to the vehicle but the sudden presence of a new sound. Consider it a bit like saving your ammo ;-)
Sort of a follow on question from this..Had an ambulance come past yesterday on the M25 with no siren, only lights. I can kind of understand this on the motorway although it did seem to take a while to get through the traffic in lane 4.
Not sure if it was flat out and on a call but in lane 4 it can't have been doing more than 70 I wouldn't have thought...I assume they'll go a bit faster than that?
Ours will although it depends on which generation of truck.
We've still got some heritage fleet Series 1 Sprinters that have a straight six with mechanical fuel injection powering small wheels so they go like hot snot. Trouble is they're all around fifteen years old now and very tired in terms of condition, with usually no less than 200,000 miles on the clock.
Then we've got a large fleet of Series 2s that Mercedes shoehorned twin turbos in to, although this actually makes them slower.
The latest Series 3 have turbo V6s and are rocket ships although bizarrely there's a real kick in the power delivery if accelerating from near stand still. They're good for triple figures but conditions (and calls) rarely justify that in London.
I know some trusts now have limiters on their wagons. There was a SECAmb truck at Charing Cross last night and I noticed a "This vehicle is limited to 62mph" notice on its arse.
I guess the thinking now is that even sick people are better off at lower speeds, especially in vehicles built by the lowest bidder, maintained at public expense and driven mostly by under-25s.
We've still got some heritage fleet Series 1 Sprinters that have a straight six with mechanical fuel injection powering small wheels so they go like hot snot. Trouble is they're all around fifteen years old now and very tired in terms of condition, with usually no less than 200,000 miles on the clock.
Then we've got a large fleet of Series 2s that Mercedes shoehorned twin turbos in to, although this actually makes them slower.
The latest Series 3 have turbo V6s and are rocket ships although bizarrely there's a real kick in the power delivery if accelerating from near stand still. They're good for triple figures but conditions (and calls) rarely justify that in London.
I know some trusts now have limiters on their wagons. There was a SECAmb truck at Charing Cross last night and I noticed a "This vehicle is limited to 62mph" notice on its arse.
I guess the thinking now is that even sick people are better off at lower speeds, especially in vehicles built by the lowest bidder, maintained at public expense and driven mostly by under-25s.
Edited by anonymous-user on Friday 26th January 10:15
miniwill58 said:
Crossflow Kid said:
It depends on the circumstances. Sometimes the siren just isn't required. Besides, there are scenarios where it isn't the constant noise that alerts people to the vehicle but the sudden presence of a new sound. Consider it a bit like saving your ammo ;-)
Sort of a follow on question from this..Had an ambulance come past yesterday on the M25 with no siren, only lights. I can kind of understand this on the motorway although it did seem to take a while to get through the traffic in lane 4.
Not sure if it was flat out and on a call but in lane 4 it can't have been doing more than 70 I wouldn't have thought...I assume they'll go a bit faster than that?
As for the speed, most of our trucks will top out at 90mph on a downhill motorway. The trucks are ragged senseless from cold, usually have high mileage, are generally underpowered, and weigh approx five tons.
Crossflow Kid said:
Ours will although it depends on which generation of truck.
We've still got some heritage fleet Series 1 Sprinters that have a straight six with mechanical fuel injection powering small wheels so they go like hot snot. Trouble is they're all around fifteen years old now and very tired in terms of condition, with usually no less than 200,000 miles on the clock.
Then we've got a large fleet of Series 2s that Mercedes shoehorned twin turbos in to, although this actually makes them slower.
The latest Series 3 have turbo V6s and are rocket ships although bizarrely there's a real kick in the power delivery if accelerating from near stand still. They're good for triple figures but conditions (and calls) rarely a
Justify that in London.
I know some trusts now have limiters on their wagons. There was a SECAmb truck at Charing Cross last night and I noticed a "This vehicle is limited to 62mph" notice on its arse.
I guess the thinking now is that even sick people are better off at lower speeds, especially in vehicles built by the lowest bidder, maintained at public expense and driven mostly by under-25s.
200k??? Our last S1 retired with 600k on the clock. We've still got some heritage fleet Series 1 Sprinters that have a straight six with mechanical fuel injection powering small wheels so they go like hot snot. Trouble is they're all around fifteen years old now and very tired in terms of condition, with usually no less than 200,000 miles on the clock.
Then we've got a large fleet of Series 2s that Mercedes shoehorned twin turbos in to, although this actually makes them slower.
The latest Series 3 have turbo V6s and are rocket ships although bizarrely there's a real kick in the power delivery if accelerating from near stand still. They're good for triple figures but conditions (and calls) rarely a
Justify that in London.
I know some trusts now have limiters on their wagons. There was a SECAmb truck at Charing Cross last night and I noticed a "This vehicle is limited to 62mph" notice on its arse.
I guess the thinking now is that even sick people are better off at lower speeds, especially in vehicles built by the lowest bidder, maintained at public expense and driven mostly by under-25s.
Edited by Crossflow Kid on Friday 26th January 10:14
The SECAMB speed limiter automatically disables when the lights are activated. SCAS have the same system on our newer trucks
kurt535 said:
what's the general concensus arriving on scene to find a first responder? positive or 'oh no - here we go'....
I see the hidden meaning in this question 
and I do find that some ambulance staff don't recognise the value of first responders, and are even quite rude to them, when arriving on scene to find one present. In my opinion, this is completely unacceptable.The simple fact of the matter is that, everyone working in any kind of healthcare capacity, are part of the family of people striving to assist folk that are in a time of need. This extends, for instance, from the grass roots of the teams of cleaners quietly going about their business in hospitals keeping the environment clean and safe for us all, right up to the big-shot consultants, and everyone in between.
First responders are choosing to give up their spare time, in order to one day, maybe make a difference to the life of a patient and their family. They are as valuable to me as anyone else who might be available to support me on a scene.
Their value is totally beyond question in cases of cardiac arrest where they may arrive before me, and are giving really good quality CPR in line with their training. Those vital early minutes of CPR in cardiac arrest patients - especially younger ones who may be down due to a reversible cause, make a huge difference in terms of out of hospital survivability. Simple as that.
In less serious cases, they still provide me with an early snapshot of history and presenting complaint when I arrive, which helps to shorten my 'on scene' time. This is a performance metric which the trust is measured on, and has a bearing on funding, so again - the first responder is delivering a useful resource, which does not cost the trust anything in financial terms but delivers a possible saving.
I have never come across a first responder who is not keen to learn, and enjoys what they are doing - so I engage with them on scene as much as I can, thank them for their support, and if I have time, will explain to them any technical or clinical information relating to the patient, for their own personal clinical development. They are always very grateful to me for that, I find.
It's a team effort, this healthcare thing, and we should all recognise that. We're all fighting hard against a lack of time and resources, hence any assistance is gratefully received as far as I am concerned.
Crossflow Kid said:
Agree with everything Ray LY says.
Plus you never know when arriving on a job if the first responder is an off-duty consultant paramedic
In my old patch, we had a semi-retired ITU Consultant who volunteered as a CFR in his rural village. The Trust was forever trying to get him to join BASICs but he was only interested in working locally.Plus you never know when arriving on a job if the first responder is an off-duty consultant paramedic
It was always interesting getting a handover from him
Interesting to hear; I was SAR medic up until a couple of years ago but now live inland so not much call for Lifeboats in towns. However, I have recently signed up to be a local CFR. It has concerned me though what the view was as things sometimes got strained at casualty handovers to the ambulance crews which I never understood, especially as sometimes Id been out since 2am for 8 hours in a crap sea! As you rightly say, we were the same family!!
Crossflow Kid said:
Agree with everything Ray LY says.
Plus you never know when arriving on a job if the first responder is an off-duty consultant paramedic
In my old patch, we had a semi-retired ITU Consultant who volunteered as a CFR in his rural village. The Trust was forever trying to get him to join BASICs but he was only interested in working locally.Plus you never know when arriving on a job if the first responder is an off-duty consultant paramedic
It was always interesting getting a handover from him
Excuse the Daily Wail but this quote made me laugh 😂😂😂😂
‘This Morning's resident GP admits he was left 'broken' after his 12-hour shift as a paramedic saw him fail to save a life, treat stab wounds and comfort grieving relatives’
Or in other words a normal day at the office for Ambulance staff 🙄
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-5298543/...
‘This Morning's resident GP admits he was left 'broken' after his 12-hour shift as a paramedic saw him fail to save a life, treat stab wounds and comfort grieving relatives’
Or in other words a normal day at the office for Ambulance staff 🙄
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-5298543/...
Crossflow Kid said:
Trouble is they're all around fifteen years old now and very tired in terms of condition, with usually no less than 200,000 miles on the clock.
15 years old? We've got '14 plate Mercs with 200k on them, and they're good for plenty more if they're maintained properly. Unfortunately this is the NHS ...Gassing Station | Health Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff