Give way to ambulances, says Cannon

THE St John Ambulance (SJA) is calling on the public in the National Capital District (NCD) to give way to ambulances with lights and sirens.
SJA chief executive officer Matthew Cannon said there had been a significant increase in emergencies within NCD and their ambulances were out on the road every day.
“An emergency ambulance vehicle uses lights and sirens on the roads to assist someone in a life-threatening situation,” he said.
“Last year we attended to 10,000 incidents.
“This year, we see a further increase.
“We’ve been really busy, that’s why you have seen us driving around more.
“When you see our lights and sirens, please give way.
“Every second counts in saving lives, when ambulance crews are called out to an incident, which is why people need to give way safely when an emergency vehicle approaches.”
Cannon added that some members of the public complained that the ambulance vehicle drivers were using their lights and sirens to beat traffic, especially in the 8 and 9-Mile areas last week.
“St John Ambulance would like to clarify that this is not true,” he said.
“Our ambulances have had to attend to emergencies in 8 and 9-Mile areas during peak hours over the last week.”
Here’s what you should do when you encounter an emergency vehicle when driving.

• Do not panic;
• Stay calm and check where the emergency vehicle is coming from;
• Then give way by merging left if it is safe to do so;
• If you cannot move left safely, you should slow down or stop and let the emergency vehicle overtake you; and,
• Do not speed up or try to outrun the vehicle as this is dangerous.

“Our ambulance drivers are highly skilled professionals, trained to safely drive and manoeuvre an ambulance through traffic in an emergency,” Cannon said.