It’s an ambulance, what do I do Published Nov. 15, 2013 By Robert Cline 2nd Medical Group Ambulance Services BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. -- You are driving down the road, and it has been a very long day. You had to get up earlier than normal for work, your co-workers got on your nerves all day and you do not even want to discuss your boss. You have picked the kids up from school, and you know that one kid has soccer practice, your other child has a project do, and you still have dinner to fix. With all of your life distractions and stressors, you take five minutes to zone out into your own world, and that is when it happens...it's an ambulance! As you look into your rear-view mirror, you see the flashing lights and hear the siren and air horn of this huge vehicle right behind you making all kinds of noise, and almost demanding that you move. In a single moment, you try to think back to driver's education in an attempt to remember what to do when an emergency vehicle is approaching. Feeling that you do not remember you decide the best thing to do is to get on your brakes really hard. You made a bad choice. Your rash decision has done two very bad things. You have placed the ambulance crew and their patient in danger, and most important, you have also placed yourself and your family in just as much danger. Ambulance operators are highly trained in not only emergency medicine, but also in emergency driving techniques. However, there are always certain situations that are unavoidable, and a vehicle that suddenly stops on a dime in the middle of the road is one of those situations. Louisiana RS Code (RS 32:125) states "Upon the immediate approach of an authorized emergency vehicle making use of audible or visual signals, or of a police vehicle properly and lawfully making use of an audible signal only, the driver of every other vehicle shall yield the right-of-way and shall immediately drive to a position parallel to, and as close as possible to, the right-hand edge or curb of the highway clear of any intersection, and shall stop and remain in such position until the authorized emergency vehicle has passed, except when otherwise directed by a police officer." Moving to the right and out of the way of the approaching vehicle does several positive things; with the most important one being it moves you safely out of the way of the emergency vehicle. Every emergency vehicle that is moving down the road with their lights and sirens on is tasked with responding quickly, but safely at the same time. Every person on the road is responsible for ensuring the safety of the road, not just the individual in the emergency vehicle. The next time you see an emergency vehicle coming up behind you, coming up a side road approaching the road that you are driving on, or even if you pass one going the opposite direction, they might be either rushing to help someone you love, or rushing someone you love to the emergency room. It isn't always someone else's family or someone you do not know. The person's life that you pause for might just be someone you know or love.