Doctors involved in emergency rescues are pleading with drivers to move out of the way when emergency vehicles are rushing to scenes where accidents have taken place.

“50% of trauma deaths occur within the first 15 minutes”, said Dr Jonathan Joslin, explaining why every second is important. “That is why we need to raise awareness on how drivers should react when they see us on the road.”

Joslin (below, right), together with Dr Michael Spiteri (left), insist that they need to be on the scene as quickly as possible to have a better possibility of saving a life.  

Both Joslin and Spiteri took to social media to express their concern that some drivers do not react quickly enough.

Joslin posted an informative video regarding an ‘Emergency Corridor’, something that has been introduced in several EU countries, to clear the roads for emergency vehicles, such as ambulances, fire engines or emergency cars, in an organised way. The video goes into detail on how such an Emergency Corridor can reduce travel time for such vehicles by four minutes and increase the chance of survival by 40%.

Contacted by the Malta Independent, Joslin explained that currently many drivers do not know how to react to sound of sirens. “Unfortunately there are many drivers who have their headphones on, playing loud music or distracted by their mobile phones, so they won’t even hear us coming, which is not good as we would be coming at a certain speed and people must react accordingly, so as not to cause another accident.” He explained that the quicker they can get to the patient suffering from a trauma accident or cardiac arrest can result in them saving a life.

“We do not want people to break on the fast line; instead if possible, they should move to the side so as to create the necessary space needed. If there are traffic jams, people need to move out and create a central emergency corridor.” He said that he hopes Transport Malta will take up on this initiative of bringing up awareness of such a ‘Emergency Corridor’. “Hopefully Transport Malta will take the ball in their court, and lead on this initiative.”

 He explained that many times emergency vehicles would be driven at a particular speed and that drivers would react by breaking, which could lead to another accident. “Our posts are trying to bring awareness that there is a correct means of how to react on the road when there is an emergency car. We just need to get their as fast as possible, but also as safely as possible, at the end of the day we do not want more accidents.”