Firefighter volunteer pwede ba magpalagay ng wangwang/blinker sa sasakyan?

[erick_214]

Hi Doc Otep,

Since you said that "Legal Medicine and Medical Jurisprudence, vehicles used by licensed physicians when responding to emergencies are considered as ambulances." Does it mean that you guys are allowed to have "blinkers and wang-wangs in your private cars? Tsaka it might be i your book as what you said but is it also in our constitution or whatever na existing na batas dito sa Pinas na considered na ambulances yung private car ng mga licensed physicians? Tsaka tanong ko na kung yung mga fire trucks na ambulances na nag bli-blink yung blinkers nila pero walang tunog na sirena eh ano ba ibig nilang sabihin doon? Sa pagkakaalam ko kasi na mapa-pulis car, fire truck at ambulances na basta hindi responde ay hindi pwedeng mag-blinkers eh? Tama ba?

[erick_214]

Hi Doc Otep,

Since you said that "Legal Medicine and Medical Jurisprudence, vehicles used by licensed physicians when responding to emergencies are considered as ambulances." Does it mean that you guys are allowed to have "blinkers and wang-wangs in your private cars? Tsaka it might be i your book as what you said but is it also in our constitution or whatever na existing na batas dito sa Pinas na considered na ambulances yung private car ng mga licensed physicians? Tsaka tanong ko na kung yung mga fire trucks na ambulances na nag bli-blink yung blinkers nila pero walang tunog na sirena eh ano ba ibig nilang sabihin doon? Sa pagkakaalam ko kasi na mapa-pulis car, fire truck at ambulances na basta hindi responde ay hindi pwedeng mag-blinkers eh? Tama ba?

[OTEP]

Hi Doc Otep,

Since you said that "Legal Medicine and Medical Jurisprudence, vehicles used by licensed physicians when responding to emergencies are considered as ambulances." Does it mean that you guys are allowed to have "blinkers and wang-wangs in your private cars? Tsaka it might be i your book as what you said but is it also in our constitution or whatever na existing na batas dito sa Pinas na considered na ambulances yung private car ng mga licensed physicians? Tsaka tanong ko na kung yung mga fire trucks na ambulances na nag bli-blink yung blinkers nila pero walang tunog na sirena eh ano ba ibig nilang sabihin doon? Sa pagkakaalam ko kasi na mapa-pulis car, fire truck at ambulances na basta hindi responde ay hindi pwedeng mag-blinkers eh? Tama ba?

Sir hindi ako abogado. Best to ask your lawyer or get in touch with ours. And the book is not mine. It is the book by Solis. It is a book of local laws governing the practice of medicine in general. I have it in our office. Sana lang hindi pa nalubog sa baha dahil 5 days na kaming waterworld.

Basta ako ginagawa ko yung work ko as a specialist, as a director of the brigade and as the ambulance command of the company. The sirens and lights don't excite me much. It's just a means to get the work done and done in a safer manner. Basta wala akong inaabala, iniistorbo or inaapi. Pre-hospital care is not all glitz and glamour that's why few doctors engage in its practice. To the legalistic people, I wouldn't mind if someone would have me apprehended for possessing traffic control equipment. Basta sila ang pumalit sa work na ginagawa namin and kami naman ang mauupo sa opisina.

I feel more comfortable with my vehicle stopped in the middle of the road with proper working emergency lights to warn approaching vehicles. Anyway, the company does acknowledge my vehicle as one of their command units so in theory I'm in the same step with Lifeline's Spark, Aeromed's Starlet, and doc Ted's Pajero. My vehicle is also deployed during events to patrol the vicinity, supervise EMS operations, and respond to calls.

Short story: A year or two ago, the Suzuki swift in front of me rammed the post of the Kamuning flyover approach and his vehicle ended up landing in the middle lane of the flyover. I stopped my vehicle behind the wrecked swift and turned on the rear strobes while I used the headlights to illuminate the scene. Having the vehicle with complete warning equipment as a a barrier between me and 1am EDSA traffic makes getting to work easier. I can concentrate on forcing the door open, cutting the ignition and doing my patient assessment while radioing for assistance from local units within the area. The local police also didn't seem to have a problem with it when they [finally] arrived.

Running lights with no siren can mean different things. It varies from brigade to brigade for from company to company. For our group, headlamps and roof warning lamps are usually on for safety. The switching systems are graded and a more urgent pattern is flashed when responding. Otherwise, the unit is bound to abide by local traffic regulations. Also, we can turn sirens off in the interest of patient comfort and when the road is open and we have no one to warn of our approach. Imagine going to Mindoro with sirens all the way. The clients don't like it. We turn off the siren but leave the lights on when the vehicles are stopped on a road where traffic is passing by (e.g. when extricating someone pinned inside a vehicle or assessing a patient lying on the street). Fire trucks going back to base keep their lights on as the trucks make very wide turns and the 'bell' siren (sounds like a cow bell) is usually used. This is to warn other motorist that there is a fire truck in their immediate vicinity and that vehicle can be called to action at anytime so they better be ready to yield at a moment's notice.

Emergency driving is a matter we take seriously and I will be giving a lecture on it later this month for our current roster of transport officers. It will be hard to cram all of that information into a single post here but the point is we try to do our work in a manner that is unobtrusive when it doesn't have to be while at the same time knowing at what level to go to in order to get the job done right.

So is there any legal basis? I can't really answer that but when every second counts and lives are at stake, we get the job done.

And if we have to get legalistic, when was the last time you saw a fire truck driver with his seatbelt on or a rescuer with an NTC license for his radio? hehe. Pero siguro if you would insist that we discontinue the use of traffic control equipment on our vehicles, nakukuha naman sa usapan iyan.

[CoDer]

Bawal yan.

[boybi]

Bawal magkabit ng wangwang and blinkers sa private cars ng fire volunteers. Only marked government vehicles, particularly police cars and fire trucks, and ambulances can be equipped with such.

[enterbay]

Napapansin ko kasi paalis palang ng labas ng bahay nila sa subdivision namin, lahat ng ilaw bubuksan na at tipong i-test pa yung kanyang wangwang... Ford pickup yung sasakyan nya. Im pretty sure private yun.

[renzo_d10]

Doc, medyo naguguluhan ako sa profession mo

Grabe, so all-arounder ka pala? Doctor, bumbero at driver ng ambulansya?

Pano mo nakakaya yan hehe

[OTEP]

Mekaniko din ako at tumatanggap ng labada. Hehe.

Seriously, being the doctor pays the bills. Being employed in the private ambulance industry helps too and allows me to enjoy what I like (working on vehicles and driving around).

Being a volunteer fire fighter and brigade doctor is a way to give back to the community.

[OTEP]

Baka si Rav ng San Juan Falcons iyan sir. Nakasama ko na sa responde yun. Ranger ang sasakyan niya and hindi sa san juan ang bahay niya. Siguro kung nakakaabala pwede natin pagsabihan. May links din siya sa Rescue 5 kung same person ang pinag uusapan po natin. Sa fcp, ford club forums niyo po siya mahahanap.

Emergency lights po ba ang nakasindi? Madami po kasing tao nowadays na talagang nakasindi ang headlamps kahit anong oras since it has been proven to increase safety po. Company policy na siya ng victory liner and shell on their big rigs too. Even the new honda crv and motorcycles come with such feature.

[andylim1]

i've seen many of these. for me okay lang magkabit sila as long na hindi abusive ang pag gamit (like GMA terms)
I've seen private vehicles din na may blinkers not sure kung may wang wang. so far mga nkikita kong private vehicles, unmarked vehicles na may blinkers hindi abuso sa daan. nkikita ko pumipila sa traffic, sumusunod sa traffic light. Marami nyan sa san juan. Minsan may back up minsan wala. siguro these private vehicles installed blinkers to let other drivers and enforcers know na may VIP or so sa vehicle? Not sure though.
Basta for me, okay lang wag lang abuso. Mas naging okay talaga ngyon kesa sa GMA terms pa!
Meron sa san juan black patrol mga ilan ilan beses ko na nkita minsan naka on ang blinkers minsan hindi. Pero lagi naka sunod sa traffic, traffic lights and enforcers.
Mas abuso pa nga sa daan yun mga walang blinkers lalo na yun sa along gilmore patawid ng ortigas, yun mahabang daan dun lagi may counter flow.

[crazy_boy]

Doc Ted's personal Pajero. He went all out with the paint and graphics already. Some of the lights, racks, and equipment came from generous sponsors.

Nakikita ko ito minsan naka park sa bambang area

[crazy_boy]

Same old...same old...

Whatever the cause that is good or bad, all of us should follow the law. Honestly, hindi ko rin alam ang laws tungkol sa mga blinking lights na yan?
If I were in your shoes, since gusto mong makatulong I'll do everything, as in everything in a legal way. That includes knowing all the Philippines laws about these blinking lights.

Ever think about by motorist doesn't give way to these "EMERGENCY VEHICLES" anymore? Well, probably all of us doesn't give a F*UCK anymore. Motorist do not know "which is which" anymore. Motorist thinks it's the same power trippin' driver of an E-vehicle anymore...

Question is, do we want to change this kind of attitude...If YES...how? Who should start?

By the way, how does the volunteer E-vehicle owners get their permit to install wang-wang from? Apply lang ba ako na barangay tanond eh pwede ko na kabitan yung kotse ko ng wang-wang?

I guess this is Philippines...

There will be ZERO to little( very very little) improvement...

Please note that I'm not judging you, my point here is if it's not in the constitution then don't do it. Simple as that...

Sa ibang bansa, nasa batas nila na pwede gumamit ng emergency blinking lights yung mga personal cars ng volunteer doctor and fireman.

Parang ang laki ng galit mo sa mga volunteers ah

[erick_214]

Sa ibang bansa, nasa batas nila na pwede gumamit ng emergency blinking lights yung mga personal cars ng volunteer doctor and fireman.

Parang ang laki ng galit mo sa mga volunteers ah

Please don't put any malice with what I typed, just read it as it is...

[renzo_d10]

Doc yung Lifeline rescue merong Chevrolet Spark, ano? Nakita ko yun days ago sa Ortigas. May blinker sa ibabaw pero nakapatay naman. Waiting patiently in traffic.

[robot.sonic]

kung ako mapunta sa situation na kakailanganin ko ng ambulance, di ko patatawarin yung EMS kung sabihan nya ako na di sya pwede mag on ng blinkers/sirens nya kasi it's against the law. 2 cents.

[renzo_d10]

Doc yung Lifeline rescue merong Chevrolet Spark, ano? Nakita ko yun days ago sa Ortigas. May blinker sa ibabaw pero nakapatay naman. Waiting patiently in traffic.

picture c/o james deakin

[confused shoes]

Sa ibang bansa, nasa batas nila na pwede gumamit ng emergency blinking lights yung mga personal cars ng volunteer doctor and fireman.

Parang ang laki ng galit mo sa mga volunteers ah

Batas po yan sa ibang bansa. Na Pilipinas po tayo.

[foresterx]

I totally understand the need of blinkers of our volunteers. Don sa mga di nakaka intindi, kung ipag bawal talaga ang wangwang sa mga volunteers pano kay kung kelangan mo ng tulong where every second counts at di sila maka responde dahil sa traffic. I seriously hope that time doesn't come. Di naman tayo katulad ng ibang bansa na ang mga first responders mabilis maka responde pag may emergency. So have a little respect to our volunteers. They are doing this for all of us not for themselves.

[erick_214]

I totally understand the need of blinkers of our volunteers. Don sa mga di nakaka intindi, kung ipag bawal talaga ang wangwang sa mga volunteers pano kay kung kelangan mo ng tulong where every second counts at di sila maka responde dahil sa traffic. I seriously hope that time doesn't come. Di naman tayo katulad ng ibang bansa na ang mga first responders mabilis maka responde pag may emergency. So have a little respect to our volunteers. They are doing this for all of us not for themselves.

Yeah Right! yang mga grey areas na yan ang nagpapagulo lalo ng bansa natin eh. Sa dami ng butas ng batas eh makakakita at makakakita talaga ng butas. Kung gusto nating magbago ang bansa natin at maging matino ay dapat tayo sumunod kung anuman yung nakasusulat sa batas. Wala na kesyo paano kung ganito, paano kung ganun...

Honestly, pag nagmamaneho kayo, iilang sasakyan lang ba nagyi-yield sa mga emergency vehicles? Kahit nga police car eh hindi na rin pinapansin eh...BAKIT? Dahil maraming driver ang hindi na alam kung ano ang pinagkaiba ng emergency at hindi. Maraming drive ang hindi nakakaalam kung totoo pa ba yan o hindi...

[Bin Diesel]

Yeah Right! yang mga grey areas na yan ang nagpapagulo lalo ng bansa natin eh. Sa dami ng butas ng batas eh makakakita at makakakita talaga ng butas. Kung gusto nating magbago ang bansa natin at maging matino ay dapat tayo sumunod kung anuman yung nakasusulat sa batas. Wala na kesyo paano kung ganito, paano kung ganun...

Honestly, pag nagmamaneho kayo, iilang sasakyan lang ba nagyi-yield sa mga emergency vehicles? Kahit nga police car eh hindi na rin pinapansin eh...BAKIT? Dahil maraming driver ang hindi na alam kung ano ang pinagkaiba ng emergency at hindi. Maraming drive ang hindi nakakaalam kung totoo pa ba yan o hindi...

Kahit saan ka magpunta may mga gray areas talaga kaya nga lagi mong tatandaan when in doubt always err on the side of caution.
It starts din naman sa atin when one gives way to an emergency vehicle others will follow kaya kung walang nagbibigay ikaw ang magsimula.