After responding to an emergency call last month, some volunteer firefighters shared their frustration with motorists not using the proper etiquette when an emergency vehicle approaches.

It is a complaint that is nothing new to medical service workers and emergency first responders.

“It is a very easy thing to do,” said one ambulance worker, who did not wish to be identified. “When you see or hear lights or sirens approaching your vehicle, just move out of the way.”

While waiting in a “hold” position at a fire call in Clinton last month, Halls volunteer firefighters Doug Stewart and Lewis Gilmore talked about arriving late to the call because motorists would not yield the right of way for the fire truck.

“We always proceed with caution,” said Stewart. “We don’t want to endanger any other drivers, but at the same time, some cars will just stop and sit and not get out of the way.”

Gilmore agreed, “When we were coming here, I couldn’t get around one car and another one just wouldn’t move; we were waiting for him to get out of the way.”

While the Clinton fire call turned out to be nothing but an electrical problem, it could just have easily involved the safety of human life. That, the firefighters said, is their main concern. In this incident, if lives had been in actual danger, the response time could have possibly cost lives, they said.

“That extra minute or two, could literally mean the difference between life and death,” said Gilmore. “It seems to be happening more and more. But I can tell you, if I was coming to save your life, you would want people to let me get there as fast as I could, now wouldn’t you?”

According to The National Fire Protection Association, it is recommended that ambulances and fire rescue units arrive on the scene for advanced life support within 10 minutes and 30 seconds after a 911 call 90 percent of the time.

Personnel have 90 seconds to be in gear and traveling to the emergency scene. Travel time is the time it takes to actually travel from a station to the emergency incident location. These two time measurements added together equal what is known as “response time.”

To maintain an ambulance operating permit, personnel must maintain an average response time of eight minutes or less for core community areas, or 12 minutes or less for rural areas in the district.

“The general rule is that motorists yield the right of way to emergency responders,” said Capt. Eric Pope of the Sampson County Sheriff’s Office. “If the person driving hears a siren or sees flashing lights, they are supposed to pull to the right shoulder of the road. But because of the way the cars are built these days and the state-of-the-art stereo systems that are in them, it (sirens) can be hard to hear if you are driving in the daytime ... that driver has to be aware of everything going on around them.”

According to North Carolina state law, “Upon the approach of any police law enforcement or fire department vehicle or public or private ambulance or rescue squad emergency service vehicle giving warning signal by appropriate light and by audible bell, siren or exhaust whistle, audible under normal conditions from a distance not less than 1000 feet, the driver of every other vehicle shall immediately drive the same to a position as near as possible and parallel to the right-hand edge or curb, clear of any intersection of streets or highways, and shall stop and remain in such position unless otherwise directed by a police law enforcement or traffic officer until police law enforcement or fire department vehicle or public or private ambulance or rescue squad emergency service vehicle shall have passed. Provided, however, this subsection shall not apply to vehicles traveling in the opposite direction of the vehicles herein enumerated when traveling on a four-lane limited access highway with a median divider dividing the highway for vehicles traveling in opposite directions, and provided further that the violation of this subsection shall not be negligence per se.”

Violation of the law is a Class 2 misdemeanor, which could put points on your license for at least three years.

“We just want people to be safer,” said Gilmore. “We don’t need to be snatching people off the road or anything, we just want them to be aware that we are trying to get to an emergency situation and that extra minute that we are waiting behind a car, could mean someone’s life.”

To reach Doug Clark call 910-592-8137 ext. 123 or send e-mail to sisports@myclintonnc.com.