Emergency Response Lane Brochure
Emergency Response Vehicle Lane Implementation to Provide Quicker Ambulance Response Times in Long Island City
The ambulance transportation system, commonly referred to as EMS or Emergency Medical Services, is a system that is committed to providing people with out-of-hospital medical care while transferring them to a proper health facility.[1] While this system is found throughout New York City, this research focuses primarily on Long Island City. This neighborhood, located in the westernmost section of Queens, would be described as an “up-and-coming” area. Its close proximity to Manhattan makes for an ideal neighborhood for city commuters. Long Island City is now gentrifying and transforming into a residential neighborhood, a change from its industrial roots. It is also becoming an epicenter for the arts, with an abundance of museums, galleries, and studios all around.[2] Partly because of these changes and developments, L.I.C. has also become a major passageway for vehicles travelling between Queens and Manhattan, and there is often traffic congestion due to all the cars passing through. This directly effects the ambulance response times in the area.
The issue of ambulance response time is extremely important; it is a matter of life or death. Urgent care is normally required during many emergencies, and while EMS personnel are trained professionals in their field, the on site location is often not the most practical setting to perform many lifesaving procedures.
In addition, ambulance vehicles do not have all the tools and supplies a hospital contains since they are designed to be compact and mobile. Therefore, in the event of a medical emergency, it is in the patient’s best interest to be transported to the nearest medical facility as promptly as possible. Failure to reach a proper healthcare facility could greatly impact a person’s survival.
One of the main obstacles that delays ambulances from arriving to the scene of an emergency and to definitive care, is traffic congestion on the roads. This raises the question of how city ambulance vehicles can get to the scene of life-threatening emergencies in the most efficient way. There should be a lane, dedicated to emergency response vehicles, on main roads in order to avoid traffic.
The system of Emergency Medical Services provides citizens with emergency medical care. This service operates when there is an incident in which a person is seriously ill or injured. While EMS is commonly recognized as the vehicles on the streets that respond to emergency incidents and transport patients to definitive care, the system operates as the crossroads between health care, public health, and public safety. EMS personnel are oftentimes the first people to recognize public health issues in a community since they are mobile and constantly active within a neighborhood. While their focus is on emergency medical care, EMS personnel may also respond to various other emergencies; they work closely with members of public safety such as law enforcement and fire services.[3]
Let me begin by giving some historical background to the neighborhood. I am focusing this research on Long Island City, which dates back to the early 1630’s. The neighborhood officially became a part of New York City in 1898, expanding its borders to include what is now Queens. Long Island City was known for its rich soil and supported a strong farming tradition, which continued in Queens until the 19th century. The area was previously an epicenter of manufacturing, but has now become home to one of New York City’s most exciting art scenes. The industrial buildings have been transformed into galleries, museums, and studios. Residency is growing fast with apartment buildings rising up all around, as well as restaurants, shops, waterfront parks, and performance venues.[4] Popular sites within Long Island City are Gantry Plaza State Park, a twelve acre waterfront park on the East River with views of the midtown Manhattan skyline, MoMA PS1, one of the oldest and largest art institutions in the country. The museum is dedicated exclusively to contemporary art.[5] Long Island City is constantly buzzing due to these attractions as well as many others. Along with the busy crowds, there is always heavy traffic within the neighborhood since it is located across the bridge from Manhattan. Vehicles are constantly passing through the area to get from Queens to Manhattan and back. The traffic causes the EMS response times in the area to be higher.
On June 4, 2013, four-year-old Ariel Russo was walking to school with her grandmother, Katia Gutierrez, when they were run over by a man trying to flee from the police. Both Ariel and her grandmother were in critical condition when an ambulance was called to the scene. However, there was a four-minute delay to dispatch an ambulance. It then took an additional four minutes for the emergency vehicle to arrive at their location. During this time, Ariel unfortunately passed away. The New York City Department of Investigation deemed the ambulance’s delayed response a result of human error.[6] While there may have been many possible inhibitors for this delay, it is more than likely that the ambulance was slowed down by the traffic in the Upper West Side.
During the summer of 2013, the New York City Department of Transportation launched the “Bus Rapid Transit” system in which they implemented highly visible bus lanes across the city. These lanes are restricted solely to buses during specific hours of the day.[7] This system was created in order to assist busses and prevent them from getting stuck in traffic; it makes transportation by way of busses fast and more reliable.[8]
After the success of the bus lanes within New York City, a lane should also be created for emergency response vehicles to arrive at the scene of an emergency quickly and efficiently. It would also aid in preventing delayed response times.
In the 1995 article entitled, “Does Out-of-Hospital EMS Time Affect Trauma Survival?” found in The American Journal of Emergency Medicine, Stan Feero conducted a study in which every patient who had received on site treatment for their injuries, did not survive. All surviving patients were among those treated in a “load and go” manner, meaning no on scene medical treatment was given and patients were transported directly to a health care facility for handling. It was also shown in the study that private cars and police were able to maneuver through traffic and get the patients to hospitals quicker than ambulances.[9] These findings suggest that while emergency responders and EMS personnel should provide the best possible care for their patients, based on the statistics of this experiment, it may be in the patient’s best interest for some EMS personnel to transport the patient to a hospital, rather than to try and save their life on site. Hospitals have more facilities and are more equipped with tools, an overall better setting than an ambulance vehicle. In addition, the results suggest that people are more inclined to yield to police cars than to ambulances, and since transportation time to and from the hospital is crucial to a person’s survival, a lane dedicated to emergency response vehicles could be the solution to traffic congestion that inhibits ambulances to respond to emergencies in a timely fashion.
Considering that fact that New York City already has bus lanes in place, it may be difficult to implement an additional lane for emergency response vehicles. This is particularly challenging since most roads have a limit of two lanes, and one must be devoted to regular traffic. Having the bus lane opened to accommodate emergency response vehicles is another proposition. However, this idea could quickly backfire since buses are so large and carry so many passengers. If an emergency response vehicle were to share the bus lane, it would be quite challenging for the buses to yield to an ambulance behind it.
In the 2012 journal article “The Current Status of Ground Medical Transport” in The Safety and Quality in Medical Transport Systems: Creating an Effective Culture journal, Nadine Levick pointed out that those who operate the emergency response vehicles and drive the ambulances are more often than not, EMS personnel. While these health care providers are extremely knowledgeable in their fields and are well aware of the procedures to perform in a healthcare crisis, they do not have training in automotive safety and automotive engineering design.[10]
Perhaps there should be a foundation of basic engineering for automobiles introduced so the ambulance drivers have some knowledge of the topic while transporting patients. However, it is still the main priority to have the people operating these vehicles as medical professionals rather than vehicle professionals. Another proposition is to have a surgeon or specialist in the field of which the patient is suffering. An example would be to have a cardiologist in an ambulance vehicle that is on its way to aid a person who is having a heart attack. Since statistics show that on scene treatment has never been successful, this concept allows the specialist to perform on site procedures or surgeries without losing valuable time transporting the patient to a hospital.
The ambulance transportation system is a rather complex network relied on by people everywhere. Those residing in urban areas may experience the negative effects when this system is intersected with issues such as traffic and congestion. I favor the solution of implementing a lane solely for emergency response vehicles on all main roads near hospitals. If there is currently a bus lane on these roads, they should be replaced because ambulances responding to emergency crises take precedence over buses transporting passengers. While the skills of EMS personnel could be improved to respond and care for patients more effectively, a trained professional can only aid an injured person so much with the equipment they are provided. Ambulances are designed to be mobile, therefore it is impossible for an ambulance vehicle to have every tool needed to save a patient. Decreasing response time will allow patients to arrive at a hospital quicker to be properly cared for. While there have been many studies for possible solutions to delayed ambulance response times, some include drawbacks that have yet to be resolved. Perhaps several interventions need to occur in order to settle this crucial matter. Whatever the solution may be, it needs to happen soon so that there are no more lives lost.
Annotated Bibliography:
[1] “What Is EMS?” What Is EMS? Accessed April 28, 2016. http://doh.dc.gov/service/what-ems.
[2] “Long Island City.” Info, Housing Availability and Values. Accessed April 28, 2016. http://streeteasy.com/area/long-island-city.
[3] “EMS System | NHTSA EMS.” EMS System | NHTSA EMS. Accessed April 27, 2016. http://www.ems.gov/whatisEMS.htm.
[4] “Long Island City in New York City – Queens Museums, Restaurants, Bars and Shopping.” Nycgo.com. Accessed April 27, 2016. http://www.nycgo.com/slideshows/must-see-long-island-city.
[5] “The Top 10 Things to Do in Long Island City – TripAdvisor – Long Island City, NY Attractions – Find What to Do Today, This Weekend, or in May.” The Top 10 Things to Do in Long Island City – TripAdvisor – Long Island City, NY Attractions – Find What to Do Today, This Weekend, or in May. Accessed May 13, 2016. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g48080-Activities-Long_Island_City_Queens_New_York.html.
[6] Marzulli, John. “EXCLUSIVE: Ariel Russo’s Family Gets Just $150K from City.” NY Daily News. April 8, 2015. Accessed April 28, 2016. http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/family-ariel-russo-150g-settlement-city-article-1.2176980.
[7] “Select Bus Service.” MTA Planning. Accessed April 28, 2016. http://web.mta.info/mta/planning/sbs/whatis.htm.
[8] “Bus Lane Enforcement Brochure.” New York City Transit. Accessed April 28, 2016. http://www.nyc.gov/html/brt/downloads/pdf/buslane_enforcement_brochure.pdf.
[9] Feero, Stan, Jerris R. Hedges, Erik Simmons, and Lisa Irwin. “Does Out-of-hospital EMS Time Affect Trauma Survival?” The American Journal of Emergency Medicine 13, no. 2 (1995): 133-35. doi:10.1016/0735-6757(95)90078-0.
[10] Levick, Nadine. “The Current Status of Ground Medical Transport.” Safety and Quality in Medical Transport Systems: Creating an Effective Culture 48, no. 5 (2013): 69-86. Accessed April 28, 2016. doi:10.1016/j.annemergmed.2006.05.033.
