Code-3 driving tips

[SByota]

#1 rule.

You can't help if you crash and never make it to the scene.

Slow down, a matter of 10 or 30 seconds isn't going to change anything -- and if it would, odds are you wouldn't make much of a difference anyway.

Moral of the story? Slow down.

X2 SLOW DOWN

[micro911]

Do not have a narrow vision when running code-3. People's vision narrows at a high speed and it can get you in trouble.

[SloChicken]

Remember, everyone else's IQ drops by about 50% as soon as they hear sirens. Drive accordingly.

This,

We were responding to a local prison code 3 and we were running down a main road (3 lanes each way) and the driver of our ambulance stopped. (I ride in the back and do not drive as I am the RN on rig and the EMTs/Paramedics do the driving).

At any rate, we were rolling at speed when we suddenly stopped. I looked through up front and asked why we had stopped in the middle of the road.
At that same time I noticed there was a stopped car, right there in the number one lane, it was clear to move to the right, yet this driver just plain came to a stop right in the number one lane.
My driver just stopped right behind the offending vehicle, and let the wail go (along with a bit of the air horn).
I asked him what he was up to and he said "these people have to learn"
After a few moments the offending car moved to the right.

I don't really approve of his methods, but I must say that it worked pretty well, and was kind of entertaining.

[Jimmybacon43]

Whenever I hear sirens coming up behind me I turn my car completely sideways so it blocks at least 2 or 3 lanes of traffic, that way it forces the police to be careful and slow down.

[RedFord150]

...My driver just stopped right behind the offending vehicle, and let the wail go (along with a bit of the air horn). ....

I am not LEO or EMS of any type. I have never driven or ridden in a vehicle Code 3.
I can tell you what it feels like to have that occur behind you. I am sitting at a Red Light one morning. Been there a couple minutes. Fire truck comes up behind me. When his red lights and sirens came on, I was already stopped. No place to go. All lanes are blocked waiting for Red Light. I am the only one at the front of my lane. He pulls in behind me and blasts the siren, not even the horn. I am not sure what I am legally supposed to do. My gut tells me to get out of his way. I look both ways and burn rubber across the intersection as soon as it is clear. He takes my opening and goes on his way.
Trust me, your guy remembered that feeling all day long.
I am a former truck driver and have logged lots of safe miles. I am always the first to pull over when I hear sirens or see lights. You guys all have my respect for a tough job.

[SloChicken]

Generally it is not advised to prompt drivers ahead to enter an intersection. If we do not have clear passage, and there is not a a safe place for the cars ahead to move we will stop, turn off sirens and lamps and proceed again code 3 once we have a green.
An opticon will change the signal for us and we will use it if the signal has a sensor, otherwise we will wait until the intersection is safe.
I do not drive the rig and have not for some 15 plus years, so my expertise in this regard is not that of the LEOs here - i am sure they can clear things up better.

[AG166]

Expect the unexpected. Drivers do crazy things to begin with. Add in some lights and sirens and there's no telling what they will do.
You're not going be worth a shi* unless you get there. Don't put yourself in a position where you're going to be explaining your actions to a judge or jury.
Just my two cents after driving code 3 for 15 years.

[SMarquez]

I am not LEO or EMS of any type. I have never driven or ridden in a vehicle Code 3.
I can tell you what it feels like to have that occur behind you. I am sitting at a Red Light one morning. Been there a couple minutes. Fire truck comes up behind me. When his red lights and sirens came on, I was already stopped. No place to go. All lanes are blocked waiting for Red Light. I am the only one at the front of my lane. He pulls in behind me and blasts the siren, not even the horn. I am not sure what I am legally supposed to do. My gut tells me to get out of his way. I look both ways and burn rubber across the intersection as soon as it is clear. He takes my opening and goes on his way.
Trust me, your guy remembered that feeling all day long.
I am a former truck driver and have logged lots of safe miles. I am always the first to pull over when I hear sirens or see lights. You guys all have my respect for a tough job.

L.A. Co.Fire policy is to shut off reds and hit the siren brake if caught at a red light. We didn't push people through red lights.

[SMarquez]

OP, I drove paramedic squads and engines. They are 2 totally different beasts. I had a lot of fun in the squads and in the right areas we could let it fly. I only had 2 wrecks and I think one was the cops fault.
You really need to know the capabilities of the vehicle you are driving. You really need to know the vehicle code. You really need to know your company policy. Be aware that first responders have been found criminally negligent wrecking on duty. Responding Code 3 is a very mental game. Assume people are aiming for you. You and your partner need to have your heads on swivels.
Always leave an escape route, either left, right or your following distance and always be ready to use them.
Mostly you need to know that you can't do anybody any good unless you get there.

[RandyRhoads]

+3 drive slower.

Just remember, all your lights and sirens are doing is asking the publics permission to break the law and have the right away. If there is an accident there is a good chance you will be at fault. Especially if you are new and on probation. A new EMT just found out while on probation, even if you are parked and someone HITS YOU, they have grounds for firing you.

Also, it's either lights and sirens, or you aren't code 3. Not one or the other. Engineer at my last FD found that out when she went through and intersection with only her lights on and no siren, hit an SUV and flipped it.

In reality, how many calls that you respond code 3 to end up having needed a code 3 response. Take your time. Slow is smooth smooth is fast.

Don't risk your career.

[Gun Kraft]

Not much help to an ambulance, but I second the notion of teamwork when driving code 3 through an intersection. What's worked well for us is the first car stops in the middle of the intersection and waits for all other cars to go through before resuming. All car responding code 3 leapfrog in this fashion through each intersection. Since drivers tend to get tunnel vision on the first car, it prevents anyone from thinking it's clear until it really is.

[Petro6golf]

Yeah, just cause your allowed to go Code 3 doesn't mean you need to drive like a crazy person. Are you going code 3 to an officer down or are you going code 3 to an in progress domestic violence? Almost nothing is worth seriously injuring someone else.

[SDDAVE56]

Don't forget to roll up your windows. We cant hear you over the siren.

[Unit74]

I had a partner who thought code 3 meant crank up the tunes as loud as possible and drive like an *** hole....seriously. Volume at max and full throttle or panic braking.

Bottom line I follow is nothing is worth crashing out or hurting someone else. It's a huge liability, great way to ruin your career, get used, fired, someone else gets to play with you boat, dirt bike, swim in the pool you just installed cuz they own your house now.....

[retired]

I'd have to agree with those who said slow it down. There were a couple of deputies (A FTO I worked with in the jail when we were rookies; good guy and a trainee) rolling Code 3 to a 459 now call.

He was rolling too fast (80mph IIRC) for the road, which had a sharp curve and IIRC, they hit a street light. He was killed and his trainee injured. Not that it made a difference, but the call turned out to be a big nothing.

RIP Deputy James Clark, 1983.

My former dept. used to have a Code 2, which was lights, but no siren. They eventually did away with it when smarter people realized the liability involved. I actually rolled Code 2 to transport some evidence from a Nightstalker murder in Diamond Bar to the Crime Lab in L.A. Only time I did and didn't really care for it.

Most of the lawsuits I've seen involving an ambulance / LEO occur at intersections. Now that I think of it, I've never had a case involving the fire department... Wonder why that is.

Perhaps because when most people see a 24' long and 35,000 ton plus fire truck rolling Code 3, they stop or get out of the way. I joke, but I frequently, to this day, see a fire rig go thru intersections Code 3 at speed. A little scary to think of how much damage they can cause if they hit any vehicle (s).

I believe the statement made by more than a few here that you cannot be of help unless you actually make it to the scene should prevail and be at the forefront of everyone's mind. This applies to anyone running Code 3.

Be safe.