Drivers make way for dead, not the living

Drivers make way for dead, not the living

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

"My ambulance, in which I was transporting a three-day-old baby
with breathing difficulties, was caught in traffic. Other
vehicles wouldn't give way even though I had the siren and the
flashing light on," Asti Puspitarini, who drives a 118 Ambulance,
said.

"When the baby briefly stopped breathing, the father quickly
got out of the ambulance and, out of desperation, arranged the
traffic so other cars gave way," she disclosed.

Fortunately, the baby arrived at the designated hospital in
time for surgery, Asti said.

"On another occasion, drivers shouted at me because they
thought my siren was annoying. I opened the ambulance window and
told them that the siren was no joke. I had a patient whose
family members were shouting in panic at me, asking me to drive
faster," she said.

Asti said that drivers sometimes would not give way when they
saw the ambulance was empty.

"We, 118 personnel, are told to turn on the siren only if it's
necessary," she said. "An empty ambulance with a siren means it
is on its way to pick up a needy patient."

"Sometimes I notice drivers are more likely to give way to
hearses than to us. Perhaps it is because hearses usually have
motorbikes with ruthless riders as escorts," she said.

On top of ignorant and uneducated motorists in Jakarta
traffic, ambulance drivers also often encounter another
challenge: severe traffic congestion in which even the most aware
driver could not give way to an ambulance due to the lack of
room.

"When traffic is too congested, I usually turn off the siren.
What would be the point? Other drivers can't move anyway," H.
Herbart, another 118 Ambulance driver told The Jakarta Post.

To help the situation, the ambulance drivers, who in 118 also
have medical training, usually stay in contact by radio with the
headquarters in Sunter, North Jakarta, where operators feed the
drivers with updated information about traffic.

"With 50 ambulances stationed at 37 spots, our response time
is between 10 to 15 minutes," she said.

Whereas in emergency cases, such as obstructed airways,
breathing difficulties, circulation problems and disability, the
allowed waiting time is 10 minutes, because under some
circumstances where a patient could choke, for example, he or she
could die within six minutes.

Another 118 strategy to improve its response time is to
provide ambulance motorbikes ridden by a medical technician
carrying emergency equipment.

"We presently have five motorbikes and are expecting to get
five more," Asti said.

In an emergency, a medical technician on a motorbike should
arrive first and an ambulance with more equipment follow behind.