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Not everyone lives in a big city but I am sure we have all encountered a situation where traffic is in a state of gridlock and an emergency vehicle cannot get through. This seems like almost a daily occurrence in my neighborhood in NYC. I find it very hard to believe that in this centuries old city, some politician has not thought up a lane just for emergency vehicles and mass transit. There are precious few set aside for buses, but drivers pay no heed and drive in the lanes anyway.
I for one know that if I or a family member needed medical attention, I would hope that help could arrive as quickly as possible. I never read about it in the news, but I am sure the response time to emergencies in NYC is way higher than it could be.
When in London I stumbled across a bit of British genius. This would not work in every city or locale, but I have never seen a bicycle ambulance team in the states, ever, and I travel quite a bit:
Bicycles can zig zag in and out of traffic and this would be a great way to cut through gridlock. Not only could you have roving crews of cyclists ready to respond to emergencies, you could attach bikes to emergency vehicles in case gridlock does ensue and they wanted an advanced crew to arrive early. Maybe some politician will see this and try this public services “hack.”
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Filed Under: green power, safety
3 comments for this entry ↓
1 Joel // Feb 18, 2008 at 5:03 am
New Orleans uses cyclist paramedics during carnival and other major events in the French Quarter. Since the rigs can’t drive into the crowds they send the bikes in to evaluate and determine if the full ambulance is needed. The bikes carry everything they need to stabilize even serious injuries until the rig can get in.
2 Joshua // Feb 18, 2008 at 7:12 am
I think this could be put to great use, at least in larger (more populous and congested) cities. But, what if the injured person was a cyclist? Would the conversation about what bikes the emergency responders use delay treatment?
Just kidding. Sounds like a great idea for those congested areas, though.
3 Mark // Feb 26, 2008 at 7:42 am
Also works very well with motorcycle mounted paramedics - more capacity for equpment and greater range / speed (outside of the really jammed centres…..)
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