I get kinda mad when i see a wreck but then i see firemen or vechiles with bluelights drive right pass so i want to get some feedback on this topic. Please send me your belief on this topics.
I will stop if there is no one there. If I see that other fire/medics/police are there and there is enough manpower I will continue on. They don't need a third wheel coming up and getting in their way. Now if there doesn't seem to be enough help I will stop and identify myself and ask those there if they need help or want my assistance.
Remember, just because there is a blue light on the vehicle doesn't necessarily mean that there is a firefighter in the vehicle at that time. Sometimes spouses or other family members borrow the car.
Well with our dept, and this has happen to many on numerous occasions I advise my guys no matter what time or day or night, if there is no emergency personal on that scene then stop, identify yourself and offer your assistance and once emergency personal get on scene check with the IC or Peramedic and see if they need anything else from you and that includes police and if not go on about your business...But we never pass up any emergency no matter where we are, its just not ethical, For the ones that do put the shoe on the other foot and ask them if it was there husband or wife or child would they want you to pass them up in there time of need...
If a cop is present, follow his commands. Sometimes even if you identify yourself as a firefighter/EMT, they do not want you to stop.
If you are first on scene and you choose to stop, you're a good man. I would have a tough time driving past a fresh incident. I would render first aid if necessary, offer my phone if they didn't have one, direct traffic until help arrived and do whatever the arriving LEOs would tell me to do.
We need to remember that, unless it is within our response areas, we are no more than good samaritins to the rest of the world. It doesn't hurt my feelings anymore if offers to help are refused.
Your duty to act ends at your borderlines. Your willingness to help is commendable.
TCSS.
Art
Ethically it's not right to drive by. In Texas, you are not required to stop at a MVC. I think I would have to stop and check for injuries. Seems like the only way to go.
i would not drive by a fresh mva unless there was already fire and paras all ready there and they had enough numbers to deal with it
if its local i would be ringing the station for my gear to be put on the truck if it had not already left
If its safe to stop I will stop and see what I can do. I carry warning devices like flares, cones, vest, aid bags and turnout gear. I have yellow warning lights front and rear on my van but I have to be sure the traffic knows I am there. If it happens on a interstate and traffic has slowed down I will find a safe place to park and setup a safety zone if possible before I get to check for victims.
I have always been told "Be sure you don't become a victim until its safe to help".
I wish I could have have red lights other than yellow but our state limits the use of red, blue and anyother color to be used.
I have personally been one of the first on the scene (while driving home from work) of an accident and watched as people turned around and drove the other way! No one had even call 911 yet, this absolutely drives me crazy! How can anyone drive by an accident, without even calling 911 I do not know. I called 911, and then asked if I could be of any further assistance, at which time the PD on scene said no, so I continued on my way home. I have also been in a different situation, in which I was responding to a call to set up a LZ and passed our neighboring department (I technically live out of my FD district), on the scene of a motorcycle accident for which my department had been toned out for the LZ!
Jeremy, if its not in your DISTRICT or response area then its not your call. If they called you for assistance then by all means stop. Otherwise you would be stopping as a citizen offering aid or assistance. Dosnt matter what your skill level or ability is you have no obligation to stop or render aid. If you do stop and provide help then you are doing a good thing otherwise drive on by. Most of us would probably stop to help just because its in our soul to want to help but there is no obligation to do so. That t-shirt your wearin or the sign, overheads on your POV or siren dosnt give you the obligation or right to render aid outside your response area.