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Enough With the Sirens, Already!

2 comments

"Sirens All Day … Sirens All Night … Sirens, Sirens, Sirens!"

RESIDENTS IN A FRESNO, CALIFORNIA, NEIGHBORHOOD who live across the street from the American Ambulance dispatch center say that their quality of life is in a shambles because of the incessant siren noise coming from the business.

KFSN-TV image

KSEE-TV continues:

Joe Morales took some home video, at about 3 am, of the ambulances across the street. He lives across the street from American Ambulance, near Tulare and Highway 41.

He's been there 30 years. He says when the sirens go off, he and his family lose sleep. He even left the camera rolling one night while he was sleeping to try and prove his point.

"24 hours a day, 7 days a week, non-stop! This is ridiculous!"

Morales wants to make it clear that he's not trying to stop American Ambulance from saving lives. He just wants the company to relocate.

It's been there 10 years. He says the employees are not abiding by company policies of neighborhood courtesy. "I got them at 3 o'clock in the morning, me and more neighbors playing with their sirens in the parking lot to say hi to each other."

For their part, American Ambulance says that they have worked with the neighbors in the past to try and alleviate the noise, but they are restricted by the law requiring them to use their sirens whenever they enter a major highway.  Their spokesman says that they do not run their sirens in the parking lot, not even to test them.

Several of the neighboring residents attended last night's city council session to present their complaint during the open session.  KFSN-TV posted a video report on the conflict:

 

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Posted by on January 13, 2012 • Filed under: ambulances, EMS Topics, Vehicle Operation & Ambulances, Videos • Tagged: , ,
  • PerOla

    Interesting. Is there really a law that forces them to use sirens on highways even if there is no other traffic? In Sweden we thrust the driver to decide when lights and sirens helps out in getting to the scene faster. This means a lot of calls at night is ran with only lights. Especially on highways where it often is easy to spot other traffic.

  • firegeezer

    Almost every state has a law requiring lights and siren used on emergencies, but everybody uses common sense about easing off at night, much like in your country. But if you get in a crash, you had better been using them. The law is always used as an excuse by management in disputes like this one.