Vince:

I seriously admit there are some strong willed people and egos at play within the rescue services, but there are some facts to consider: Note: I won't speak of SAR, or wilderness rescues, but those I am familiar with.

1) In rural America, most highways are simple two-lane strips. In Idaho, we have several of these, of which, the north-south highways have the most traffic on them. People who stop and ?help? block the normal progression of traffic without regarding their own safety (mostly) and without proper warning devices. The new goal of the USDOT is to keep traffic moving to expedite the movement of commerce. Shutting down any highway, for any reason, is considered taboo. Some rescuers have taken this seriously, in part, because many people who stop are interfering and actually not helping. I have seen between five and ten different cars stopped at an accident and keeping the ?rescuers? from parking close enough to the ?scene.? Then there is the possibility of landing a life flight helicopter, which requires a certain amount of ?clear? area. Moving by-standers and others which stop to help out of the way is mostly about civilian safety, not necessarily about distrust of the private citizen. I understand the need to assist if a family member is hurt, but we don?t want you hurt either.

2) Most dispatchers in our area (and others) are trained through the Emergency Medical Dispatch course. They are taught to provide instructions to civilians over the phone for many medical problems in the home. This is a good program and it has helped in some cases.

3) Some people call 9-1-1 from their cellular phones and keep right on driving down the road. They cite personal safety as the reason for continuing. Sometimes; these calls are for someone who has stopped to change a flat tire and ?kicked up? some dust. The caller thought for sure there was an accident, but never stopped to verify one had taken place.

4) The area I work EMS in is considered to be remote-rural, which means, mostly open land. People may not call 9-1-1 from a cellular phone, nor do they always have coverage, so they will stop and take an injured person to the nearest house, or even to the hospital. When asked why, they respond with ?oh, I didn?t think the ambulance came this far out!? That is probably the fault of the local rescue workers who don?t necessarily articulate the coverage area openly to the public, through the media.

My all time favorite one-vehicle rollover came in about 3 summers ago in a rather remote area of the county. The calling party stayed on the scene, but informed us no one was in the car. When rescue personnel arrived; several by-standers were placed into service to assist in searching for the car occupants. About 20 minutes later, an elderly gentleman and his wife came up in a pick-up truck and said the injured party was taken to the hospital by their son, they did not realize the ambulance even came to their road. We called everyone who helped us and explained we ?found? the driver. We thanked them, shook their hands and left the scene. All told we had spent an hour on this call. We later learned the driver had 3 felony warrants, a suspended driver?s license and no insurance, as we say in the business, imagine that! Hmmmmm! He later admitted to calling the guy who helped him, because he knew of the warrants and was avoiding arrest. Surprise, he went anyway! Gotta love that one! <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Take care,

Stargazer

"If we believe in absurdities, we shall commit atrocities - Voltaire"