Charles County Department of Emergency Services (DES) is always looking for ways to keep our community and our responders as safe as possible. Starting in March, DES is using a new system called Hot/Cold Dispatching. This means when a call is dispatched for a routine or non-emergency call, the ambulance will no longer turn on emergency lights and sirens on its way to the call. This dispatching method, which is used by many jurisdictions in the state, will further protect our residents and first responders from the risk of ambulance-related crashes. Lights and sirens will continue to be utilized for emergencies when life-saving care is needed as soon as possible.
As an EMS responder I'm a little on the fence about this. Some like me downplay their medical issues because they don't want to make a scene or think it's not that bad. However the sheer amount of BS calls we get makes me hope that the BS callers find alternative ways to get their issues resolved instead of calling 911 for every little non emergency problem they think they have. Oh my superscription ran out, abnormal labs, tick bite, stubbed toe, cold for 2 weeks...
As an EMS responder I'm a little on the fence about this. Some like me downplay their medical issues because they don't want to make a scene or think it's not that bad. However the sheer amount of BS calls we get makes me hope that the BS callers find alternative ways to get their issues resolved instead of calling 911 for every little non emergency problem they think they have. Oh my superscription ran out, abnormal labs, tick bite, stubbed toe, cold for 2 weeks...
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