Ben-Nadav Hafri

Beyer was a Boy Scout. Scrupulous. The reason he was speaking to me is because in his capacity as the EMS Medical Director of the Berrien County Medical Control Authority, he is responsible for the ambulances of Berrien County. And that means he's thought a lot about the noises that those ambulances make. And he's arrived at a very controversial position.

Beyer was a Boy Scout. Scrupulous. The reason he was speaking to me is because in his capacity as the EMS Medical Director of the Berrien County Medical Control Authority, he is responsible for the ambulances of Berrien County. And that means he's thought a lot about the noises that those ambulances make. And he's arrived at a very controversial position.

No evidence that lights and sirens helps anybody? This, even to me, an inveterate complainer about sirens, was a huge surprise.

No evidence that lights and sirens helps anybody? This, even to me, an inveterate complainer about sirens, was a huge surprise.

A lot of EMS across the country has a similar kind of tiered intake system, a way to rank every incoming 911 call based not on its importance, but on its time sensitivity. In Berrien County, they would tag a call with priority one or two, depending on what the issue was.

A lot of EMS across the country has a similar kind of tiered intake system, a way to rank every incoming 911 call based not on its importance, but on its time sensitivity. In Berrien County, they would tag a call with priority one or two, depending on what the issue was.

Except the system wasn't really working.

Except the system wasn't really working.

So you only have a certain number of ambulances, but if a full half of your calls are coming in as urgent, how do you fix the problem? How do you get all those ambulances where they need to be? Well, an easy way is to get more places faster, which theoretically you can do very easily if you're exempt from all typical traffic laws, precisely why we have sirens.

So you only have a certain number of ambulances, but if a full half of your calls are coming in as urgent, how do you fix the problem? How do you get all those ambulances where they need to be? Well, an easy way is to get more places faster, which theoretically you can do very easily if you're exempt from all typical traffic laws, precisely why we have sirens.

But it's a little more complicated than that.

But it's a little more complicated than that.

Specifically, it increases your chance of an accident by over 50%, which is crazy. This is according to a peer-reviewed 2019 study published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine. The risk is even higher when transporting a patient than when initially responding, but either way, the chance of an accident is a lot higher when you're using lights and sirens than if you're not.

Specifically, it increases your chance of an accident by over 50%, which is crazy. This is according to a peer-reviewed 2019 study published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine. The risk is even higher when transporting a patient than when initially responding, but either way, the chance of an accident is a lot higher when you're using lights and sirens than if you're not.

Also, these are very often bad accidents. Ambulances are heavy, not a risk worth taking if you're just responding to a toothache.

Also, these are very often bad accidents. Ambulances are heavy, not a risk worth taking if you're just responding to a toothache.

So there's the accidents risk, but also, and this is really surprising, using lights and sirens doesn't actually save that much time on your route to the patient. For decades now, studies have shown that lights and sirens seem to save on average between 42 seconds and three minutes and 48 seconds.

So there's the accidents risk, but also, and this is really surprising, using lights and sirens doesn't actually save that much time on your route to the patient. For decades now, studies have shown that lights and sirens seem to save on average between 42 seconds and three minutes and 48 seconds.

It's about one and a half minutes of savings if you're in a city and a little over three and a half minutes if you're in the country on average.

It's about one and a half minutes of savings if you're in a city and a little over three and a half minutes if you're in the country on average.