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Two Hurt In Car/Ambulance Accident Save Email Print
Witnesses say amulance ran red light
Posted: 4:33 PM Sep 7, 2008
 Last Updated: 7:32 PM Sep 7, 2008
 Email Address: sixonline@wowt.com
11 comments
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Two people were injured in a crash involving an ambulance near 52nd and Dodge shortly after 7:30 a.m. Sunday.

Witnesses say a car was southbound with a green light when the eastbound ambulance ran a red light and hit the car. The impact caused the ambulance to flip over. Two people in the ambulance were taken to the hospital in serious condition.

The driver of the car says the emergency lights on the ambulance were not flashing when it went through the traffic light.
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Posted by: Carla on Oct 1, 2008 at 09:37 PM
I was involved in a collision with an ambulance a few weeks ago -- the ambulance did not stop at the scene but one of the responing officers said he admitted fallt on the phone -- a few days later when I got the police report it says we failed to yeild to the ambulance--- any advice?????? there were witnesses that said they ambulance did not pause at the light but the police did not take any statements -
Posted by: Bob on Sep 9, 2008 at 01:08 PM
I can see my last post didnt make it but I agree with paramedic and meds. Knowing somewhat of what happened and being a ff/medic everyone wants to critize anyone who is using lights and sirens. I am not saying who right or who wrong but WE ALL need to be careful at intersections. Lastly lets get the news report right and lets pray for a quick recovery for all involved
Posted by: Great Police Work on Sep 9, 2008 at 12:11 PM
This looks a little suspicious, why isn't the car ticketed? They had to be speeding excessively for a foggy morning for a malibu to hit a heavy ambulance hard enough to knock it on its side... the emergency lights were probably on, as there is no side from the ambulance driver,and I'm sure the car driver didn't want a ticket or lawsuit. I just hope the car driver can sleep at night knowing thier false statement, and irresponsible driving impacted heroes of the community in ways he selfishly doesn't care about. I think the Police should do some more work in an accident like this, perhaps a ticket in the direction of someone actually violating multiple traffic laws versus an ambulance trying to do the community a service. Sounds like a weak story to me.
Posted by: Paramedic on Sep 8, 2008 at 10:17 PM
As a paramedic I can tell you that we are held to the same standards as anyone else out there driving and we can also make mistakes like anyone else. Even if we have our lights/sirens on we can't go through red lights until we clear the intersection. If we're involved in an accident we are going to be ticketed like anyone else. The private services respond lights/sirens and transport lights/sirens just like OFD. They don't have as many emergent calls as OFD but they do have emergent responses and transports. Little Ole Me, maybe you should follow those ambulances driving lights/sirens for no reason and see for yourself that you know absolutely nothing about a service that you have no problem criticizing. The driver made a mistake and will pay for that mistake, for now let's wish him/her and the others involved a quick recovery.
Posted by: meds172 on Sep 8, 2008 at 10:03 PM
I would like to make 3 points. 1. The paramedics that work for private services take the SAME National Registry Paramedic exam as the fire department paramedics, AND have to have the same number of hours to recert with the National Registry. 2. Speaking of my experience with 2 of the private services, if your running lights and siren, you better have a darn good reason for it. i.e. a life threatening situation. 3. If it wasn’t for the private services, there is NO WAY that the fire departments could keep up with the number of requests for service. 450 miles away, but “Mother” is still watching. Good luck to you all.
Posted by: nick on Sep 8, 2008 at 09:02 PM
In response to little oe me. I am not deffending the ambulance companies but. The private services do run emergencie calls sure not 911 calls to our houses but to care facilities for the elderly. Now being a firefighter/EMT my self we are all taught how to clear intersections before proceeding through them. Obviously that was not done in this case. I was not there so I dont know the circumstances of the crash but if the ambulance did not have thier lights and siren on the driver should be ticketed. Even if the ambulance did have lights and a siren on they are to drive with due dilligence for the public meaning he should have cleared the intersection before going through it. Now on the other hand having driven fire trucks and abulances through busy intersections myself I do know how hard it is when drivers are'nt paying attention to your lights and sirens. Moral of the story emergency workers and the public need to pay more attention to driving conditions.
Posted by: Kris on Sep 8, 2008 at 01:45 PM
Haven't you ever been driving down the street, an ambulance or fire truck (with lights and sirens going) comes down the street and people completely don't pay attention? I suspect the lights and sirens were on, but the other motorist didn't notice.
Posted by: tom on Sep 8, 2008 at 01:28 PM
i was born and raised in this area. This intersection is a bad one even when there is no sirens of any kind. The city should think about redoing these lights some how maybe put in flashing light when the light is about to change like many of the other bad intersections around town especially the bad ones. You can't see if someone from the east or west is coming ispecially if you have the green light going north or south. There should be a turn lane from north to south so people can get a turn arrow
Posted by: Little Oe Me on Sep 8, 2008 at 12:23 PM
Gee... not an Omaha FD squad... I see too many private ambulances (American, Rural Metro, Midwest, AMR) running lights and sirens all over town, but they are NOT 911 SERVICE, and as such, they are most likely NOT transporting someone with a lif-threatening condition, so no need to run lights and sirens. And this yahoo was running stoplights WITHOUT lights and sirens. IDIOTS!! Ticket the ambulance driver!!!!
Posted by: Steve on Sep 8, 2008 at 11:13 AM
If they were NOT responding to a call with lights & sirens going, then the ambulance driver needs to be ticketed for running the red light...PERIOD ! ! !
Posted by: llr on Sep 8, 2008 at 10:26 AM
Well, was the ambulance's SIREN on, at least? Anytime I hear a siren at an intersection (especially a "blind" one like 52nd & Dodge kind of is) I proceed with extreme caution. If NOTHING was sounding/flashing on the ambulance, then it surely was a non-emergent call and the ambulance should not have run the light, am I correct?
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