Siren – an alarm bell, a warning or a danger signal?
We hear the sound of a siren probably daily. It’s possible we hear them so often we become almost immune to the sound. The importance of the siren as a means of warning is crucial in all emergency situations. Don’t ignore sirens, ensure you take due care when you hear one.
Fire vehicles, police vehicles, EMT vehicles and all other emergency vehicles have one thing in common, a means to audibly warn against their approach. Many vehicles have flashing lights, but these are only effective if they are in your line of sight. A siren is a sound that can’t be ignored. sirens are probably the most important warning signal on any vehicle that needs to respond to and attend an emergency situation fast. The sound of a siren acts not only as a warning that a vehicle needs to get somewhere quickly, it also says, this vehicle is on possibly on it’s way to assist in saving someone’s life.
If we come across an accident such as a motor vehicle crash, we expect medical assistance to be there and possible the fire service and police to be in attendance. It goes without saying all of these vehicles need to get to a scene in a short a time as possible. The loud siren acts to warn other road users to make way for their approach and move over to let them pass. It’s natural to move over for a vehicle with flashing lights and a siren going, isn’t it? It would appear that to some road users, no amount of flashing neon light or wailing siren is enough to warn them they are approaching an accident scene and they need to slow down.
In many states, there have been deaths of officers, fire fighters and EMT personnel when they have been in attendance at a roadside accident. It would seem that a loud siren and flashing lights are simply not effective enough to give the protection to those working in such hazardous situations. Being killed in the line of their duty is something that emergency workers are aware of from the outset, but when that death is as result of road user’s carelessness and ignorance it is hard to bear. Don’t ignore the situation when you hear a siren. It may be an everyday or even hourly occurrence but the siren is indicting there is an emergency and lives possibly at stake.
On average there is one emergency worker killed in any one month on our roads. That is one too many and it is leaving a family without a mother or father, or parents grieving for a child. Lack of awareness on our roads is a killer. The sound of a siren means something. Emergency workers don’t activate the siren for no reason. They activate it because they need to pass you on the road or warn you they are approaching an accident ahead. At the very least drivers should slow down when they hear a siren. But many don’t, believing instead that their need to be wherever it is they need to be is more important.
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