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Ambulance called for ambulance

Ambulance. Photo by John Keith.Ambulance. Photo by John Keith.

John Keith and Katie Kelly report a Boston ambulance and another vehicle collided around 1:15 p.m., sending the ambulance hurtling into the shrubbery in front of an apartment building. Kennedy reports both vehicles were pretty banged up, but nobody seemed injured.

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Comments

(about twelve years ago now) where there was a bad wreck on I-93 SB in Medford. One of the ambulances transporting a victim to Downtown Boston overturned on the lower deck.

And I'd be curious to find out if this ambulance had their sirens on. More than likely, they probably hit a short "blip blip" as they were entering the intersection (whis is apparently the SOP to appease the anti-noise zealots), which gave the other driver no clue as to their presense before the collision.

We really need a state law requiring FULL USE of sirens by all emergency vehicles responding to actual calls or transporting victims to hospitals.

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I completely disagree; the LAST thing we need is for these guys to be blaring their sirens when it is not imperative to do so (empty/open street w/ no traffic control, etc...). Most likely they didn't hear the other siren b/c of their own.

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was hit by a car, not the other ambulance in the photo.

And, with respect, if I'm approaching an intersection, I'd like to know that there's a ambulance, police car, or other emergency vehicle responding to a call (or heading to a hospital) in the vicinity (and not just 5 feet away) BEFORE I attempt to enter the intersection, so I can slow down (or stop) and let them pass.

Sorry, but the present "blip-blip" protocol doesn't accomplish that. And "noise pollution" isn't a valid excuse to comprimise people's safety - Noise is part of urban life, get used to it.

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I agree with anon—these idiots terrorize the neighborhoods night and day with their whooping and hooting and screaming 120db sirens, blowing through red lights, driving the wrong way on one-way streets, driving on the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic (all illegal)—they're like roosters crowing and ducks quacking. If you think that their pseudo-heroic performances are a valuable public service, wait until you get the $1500.00 bill in the mail for your ride to the hospital. They're hospital taxis, not public servants—overpaid, self-important chauffeurs.

Let's scrap Boston EMS (except that they're in the police union, so that's never going to happen) and give the taxi function to the fire department (where it resides in virtually every other city in the U.S.). That's 350 highly paid and useless EMS functionaries forced into the dreaded private sector, "command staff," "special operations command," "tactical unit" and all. Those of us who actually live in the city's neighborhoods have been sick of this theatrical trope and these silly performances for years.

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Hey anon,

You sound a little worked up. Any pain in your left arm? Maybe you should relax before you have a heart attack; if the real cabbies of Boston can't keep their credit card machines running, just imagine the condition of their cardiac defibrillators!

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Have you ever witnessed the boston fire department on a medical emergency? They are useless . If people had to pay the 1500 dollar bill they would call a cab but in this state health insurance is free for people who are as useless as fire fighters on a medical call. Bems handles 400-500 calls a a day with 20 bls ambulances 5 medic ambulances and 1/4 of the budget of the bfd who average virtually no fires a week. Your obviously on the boston fire dept you don't want the extra work so shut up and keep raking I'm the cash for doing next to nothing #dick

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While I disagree with quite a bit of what you said, I'll only take issue with the indisputable facts you are incorrect on: an ambulance can go through red lights, down wrong ways and on the wrong side of the street en route to or transporting from an emergency call. The law allows that.

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Before you suggest a merger between BFD and EMS, I highly recommend that you read this article:

http://www.washingtonian.com/articles/people/what-...

tl;dr: Merging EMS with fire leads to dysfunction, poor performance, and even loss of civilian life. The Boston EMS system is actually considered one of the best in the nation.

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Less than a month after you wrote this, Boston EMS handled the Boston Marathon bombing. Triage, treatment, transport, hospital-coordination via CMED, as well as supporting the public safety operations of surrounding cities after the bombing (see: Watertown shootout). All Boston EMS.

Sure, the day to day grind of EMS is less than glorious. Similar to chauffeuring? Maybe some calls; other patients benefit greatly from early access to ALS/BLS care in the field. However, I don’t think simple chauffeurs could’ve handled the above.

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Six of these morons blasted by my house on the way to give someone a ride to the hospital—big emergency...

I agree with anon—these idiots terrorize the neighborhoods night and day with their whooping and hooting and screaming 120db sirens, blowing through red lights, driving the wrong way on one-way streets, driving on the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic (all illegal)—they're like roosters crowing and ducks quacking. If you think that their pseudo-heroic performances are a valuable public service, wait until you get the $1500.00 bill in the mail for your ride to the hospital. They're hospital taxis, not public servants—overpaid, self-important chauffeurs.

Let's scrap Boston EMS (except that they're in the police union, so that's never going to happen) and give the taxi function to the fire department (where it resides in virtually every other city in the U.S.). That's 350 highly paid and useless EMS functionaries forced into the dreaded private sector, "command staff," "special operations command," "tactical unit" and all. Those of us who actually live in the city's neighborhoods have been sick of this theatrical trope and these silly performances for years.

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There wasn't a lawyer's car right behind the ambulance when it crashed...

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Actually the photo shows the other Boylston/Ipswich intersection, the one in the East Fens. Good thing nobody was standing there waiting for the 55 bus... yikes!

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Thanks, I fixed it by changing "Ipswich" to "Hemenway."

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they intersect twice!

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