TO: ALL WOOD COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS AMATEURS
ALL NON-WOOD COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS AMATERUS
FROM: KEN HARRIS WA8LLM
WOOD COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS INCORPORATED
WOOD COUNTY BULLETIN NR 11.49 DATE: December 4, 2011
SUBJECT: TWO SECONDS CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE
You've heard it said that a couple of seconds won't make any difference when a Police Car, Fire Truck, Ambulance, or Rescue Squad is in route to the scene of an accident or other such emergency. Well... picture in your mind an emergency vehicle with red or blue lights flashing and siren blowing, pulling into the turning lane getting ready to turn left off of a divided four lane highway. Picture traffic coming from the opposite direction. Who has the Right-of-Way? Sure, you'll say the emergency vehicle because it has its lights flashing and its siren blowing.
If you were in one of the vehicles coming from the opposite direction what would you do? You may slow down, and maybe even stop to let the emergency vehicle finish making its left hand turn. What happens if you or the other vehicles don't stop? What happens if the driver of the emergency vehicle doesn't stop to let the traffic clear before proceeding to turn left?
If you were driving the emergency vehicle, what would you do? Doesn't it just make sense to wait a couple of seconds for traffic to clear to make sure the emergency vehicle doesn't get involved in an accident? See... a couple of seconds can make a difference.
Ken Harris WA8LLM
WCEC
Wood County WV