Fatal Crash Leads To Change In Response Procedures
(AP) BOULDER, Colo. A fatal crash has caused Boulder to rethink its initial response to fires.
Fire Chief Larry Donner said ambulances will not speed to fires unless there is a clear indication of threat to life.
"Even if there's a call of smoke and flames, they're going to run nonemergency," Donner said. "The thought is it would take us (firefighters) a little while to set up and make an interior attack, and if there was anyone inside, the ambulance would still arrive in a timely fashion to help any victims we might find at the fire scene."
On May 1, an ambulance with its sirens on and flashing hit a car driven by Hannah Boemker, 16, of Lafayette, killing her. The fire call turned out to be a false alarm.
Although the driver was following the rules, officials say, a policy change was needed.
Ambulances will travel to fires at normal speeds and not run stop lights unless it is confirmed that paramedics are needed immediately. "If someone calls in and says to the dispatcher, 'There's a fire and my mother is burned,' that would trigger an emergency ambulance response," Donner said.
Ambulance drivers may arrive a few minutes later, but Mike Donner, president of Pridemark Paramedic Services, said it is a "very sound decision." "There are a lot of times there's not a fire," he said. "We're still going to be heading in that direction and we'll still get there relatively quickly."
Dennis Boemker, Hannah's father, said police have kept them informed as the investigation progresses. "We'll just sort of hear it when we hear it," he said. "We're just waiting until they do everything they need to do."
(AP) BOULDER, Colo. A fatal crash has caused Boulder to rethink its initial response to fires.
Fire Chief Larry Donner said ambulances will not speed to fires unless there is a clear indication of threat to life.
"Even if there's a call of smoke and flames, they're going to run nonemergency," Donner said. "The thought is it would take us (firefighters) a little while to set up and make an interior attack, and if there was anyone inside, the ambulance would still arrive in a timely fashion to help any victims we might find at the fire scene."
On May 1, an ambulance with its sirens on and flashing hit a car driven by Hannah Boemker, 16, of Lafayette, killing her. The fire call turned out to be a false alarm.
Although the driver was following the rules, officials say, a policy change was needed.
Ambulances will travel to fires at normal speeds and not run stop lights unless it is confirmed that paramedics are needed immediately. "If someone calls in and says to the dispatcher, 'There's a fire and my mother is burned,' that would trigger an emergency ambulance response," Donner said.
Ambulance drivers may arrive a few minutes later, but Mike Donner, president of Pridemark Paramedic Services, said it is a "very sound decision." "There are a lot of times there's not a fire," he said. "We're still going to be heading in that direction and we'll still get there relatively quickly."
Dennis Boemker, Hannah's father, said police have kept them informed as the investigation progresses. "We'll just sort of hear it when we hear it," he said. "We're just waiting until they do everything they need to do."