Medic on a Motorcycle


An article in today’s O explores how Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue is dealing with the increasing difficulty of getting fire engines through congested traffic. Some of the ideas include having paramedics arrive on motorcycles instead of fire trucks (already done in some Asian cities), use of traffic cams to direct emergency personnel and installing sprinklers in single-family homes.

What I find interesting is that this article is NOT about the Portland Fire Bureau, suggesting that the urban street grid is less susceptible to this problem than suburban arterials and cul-de-sacs.


24 responses to “Medic on a Motorcycle”

  1. It isn’t just the cul-de-sacs. Most of Portland also has enough density that our fire stations are closer together anyways. Bad traffic, and several miles to go is a problem, but bad traffic and less than a mile isn’t nearly as bad.

    I met a firefighter in the UK a few years ago that walked (ran) to many of his calls. If you only have to go half a mile, <5 minute response times are pretty easy on foot, even if you are carrying a fairly big medical kit.

  2. Chris Smith:“What I find interesting is that this article is NOT about the Portland Fire Bureau, suggesting that the urban street grid is less susceptible to this problem than suburban arterials and cul-de-sacs.”

    ws: This was the first thing I thought of too. I admit, there is some debate about “skinny streets” and safety service response, however, it has shown that fire response times (and ambulance) to connected street grids with smaller blocks is very quick compared to the hierarchical cul-de-sac model.

    The aforementioned street model actually increases time and requires more fire stations to be built to service municipalities in a timely way.

    This report, among others, shows the time and financial burden on such street networks to firetrucks:

    http://www.charlotteobserver.com/static/images/pdf/CNUPresentation.pdf

    On a side note, there are more safety concerns with motorists in cul-de-sac communities:

    http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5455743

    “For example, Lucy says cul-de-sac communities turn out to have some of the highest rates of traffic accidents involving young children.”

    Too bad the “safety conscious” cul-de-sac crowd does not recognize real (or logical) data (I happen to be gazing upon a cul-de-sac as I write this, not to make an us vs. them argument). “They” have no problem isolating their kids in auto-dependent communities for fear of the inner-city gangs, but have no problem handing over the keys to a device that is the leading cause of death for teenagers (not drugs or gangs, but cars). Not to digress, but a 16 year old is not mature enough to handle a few tons of steel.

    Here’s my advice: Fewer cul-de-sacs, more parks.

  3. From the NPR story:
    “The actual research about injuries and deaths to small children under five is that the main cause of death is being backed over, not being driven over forward,” he says. “And it would be expected that the main people doing the backing over would in fact be family members, usually the parents.”

    There is a question on the drivers test that everyone gets wrong, which is: Small children have been playing behind your car recently. You are about to back out of your driveway, what should you do? (The correct answer is, get out of your car and go look.)

  4. It seems to me a motorcycle would use considerably less fuel than taking a fire truck to a medical emergency. Any transport (in Portland) is always done by the response of a private ambulance. Moreover, there should be a cost savings for taxpayers, not only for fuel, but by making less calls with the fire trucks, it should require replacement less often.

    Moreover, I made a similar suggestion months ago suggesting the Portland Fire Bureau respond to medical emergencies using scooters or motorcycles. It fell on deaf ears. In a city that preaches to populace about reducing energy consumption, they do little thinking outside the box when it comes to their own routines.

  5. I’m thinking skinny streets, speed bumps, and bubble curbs seem to slow down fire trucks more then a cul-de-sac.

    Its easy enough to avoid a street that ends, but when the only main arterial is two or four lanes wide and packed with cars and with engineered obstacles… well there be the problem.

  6. Its easy enough to avoid a street that ends, but when the only main arterial is two or four lanes wide and packed with cars and with engineered obstacles… well there be the problem.

    That almost contradicts itself.

    The problem is not the Cul-De-Sac, it is the fact that there is “only main arterials” to get around.

    In areas where there are skinny streets there is usually also a grid system. The grid provides natural alternatives if one part is blocked.

    But when you have a bunch of Cul-D-Sacs all emptying on to one or two roads – once those roads are done, so is your access.

    Another topic:

    And the city of Portland is not motorcycle or scooter friendly.

    I called and asked why they charge full meter prices for their motorcycle parking, especially over at PSU where they can fit 12 motorcycles in the space where two cars would go.

    Their response was that even though motorcycles and scooters consume less fuel, they have worse emissions (which is true) so they do not want to encourage their use as transport. Some scooters put out more harmful emissions than large SUVs on a mile per mile basis. Sure, they burn very little fuel – but they also have zero emissions equipment. My 2006 motorcycle has the engine and emissions equipment that were on it in 1983 when it was designed, with not one change.

    Even the new CARB requirements proposed for new motorcycles are significantly less stringent than cars. I think we should be pushing to make the motorcycles as clean as cars per unit of fuel burned – then they would be significantly cleaner both burning less fuel and doing it without emissions penalties.

    This sort of thing with fire and rescue should not be too hard to do – Police already use motorcycles. Just paint some red and have them be first responders. You could even still have them roll the other equipment – and turn them around if the first responder calls in and says they are not needed.

    The comments on the Oregonian article are interesting though.

  7. Diesel trucks, especially anything the size of a fire truck, don’t get up to speed very quickly. Using anything else would be more efficient and might save a life. I mentioned this to Sam Adams some years ago, but he is more interested in soccer.

  8. Anthony“I’m thinking skinny streets, speed bumps, and bubble curbs seem to slow down fire trucks more then a cul-de-sac.

    Its easy enough to avoid a street that ends, but when the only main arterial is two or four lanes wide and packed with cars and with engineered obstacles… well there be the problem.”

    ws:Skinny streets and “bump-outs” are for pedestrians safety and limiting automobile speeds, and they do work (instead of the pedestrian being obstructed behind a parked car). Hopefully engineers are getting the picture that if you design a road for a car to be able to do 60 mph, but the speed limit is 35, speeding is going to occur.

    I find speed bumps are put in after the roads go in, probably due to complaints by residents. Usually they are on streets that are too wide and over designed.

    In regards to cul-de-sac communities, they design roads to not allow for traffic to “cut through” and it is all put onto one or two arterial roads. It’s not so much an issue regarding vehicle speed as it is of vehicle access. These types of road networks create circuitous routes.

  9. Instead of turning this into a debate over land-use and streets, keep in mind there is a big difference between TVFR and Portland Fire. TVFR is directly accountable to voters rather than being part of a city department. TVFR is well known for innovation and has won several awards for excellence. I think you are looking to debate an issue that has little to do with the fire department response.

  10. I was a dispatcher for a volunteer ambulance company in Central New York, and was licensed as an EMT-D (#244189 I think I was.) I spent a bit of time as essentially a passenger, I had to ride along X amount before actually taking any calls. I unfortunately moved before getting to drive, but anyway…

    There’s a reason they send an ambulance. The main cost is that you need a rugged, four wheel drive vehicle to get to some sites. If you need an ambulance anyway, a motorcycle is just a supplement. A modern American ambulance is designed to be an all-purpose, all-weather, all-terrain vehicle, with everything you’d need to treat a patient right there.

    It’s possible to (for example) take just what you think you’ll need, but that opens you up to a lot of legal liabilities. Paramedics need to be ready for almost anything. much more than an EMT-D. I could not possibly have everything I was trained to use and need, ready to go at a moment’s notice, in a vehicle much smaller, and readily accessible, in something smaller than a van or SUV.

    A backboard, which you’re supposed to use in nearly any trauma situation, is not easily carried on a motorcycle for example.

    On top of that, you need somewhere to treat a patient, potentially. A call where the caller is saying they cut their hand badly can be anything from a near-amputation to something that needs a band-aid. A really bad cut can also require a defibrillator, as a patient can end up in cardiac distress. You also might end up wishing you had MAST pants available as well.

    European responders have a different standard of care to explain the British example above. Running to the scene with less equipment may be beneficial, but you still should send an ambulance, or something similar to almost all calls. Maybe turn it around if the motorcycle gets there first and sees it’s unnecessary, but then you’re paying for another vehicle, and more gas use than just sending the ambulance.

    As far as the street grid, it definitely makes sense that it would improve travel times for emergency responders. In congested areas it allows faster travel times for all, so why not emergency vehicles as well?

  11. a big difference between TVFR and Portland Fire

    It may be that TVF&R is more innovative. However, I bet that part of the problem is that much growth is put into areas of brand-new development, instead of added to already developed areas by increasing density. Besides possibly putting development farther from existing fire stations (and other emergency services), people often don’t have a realistic choice of reducing the congestion that the fire trucks, etc., face by using a different form of transportation.

    In addition, new developments do not have to pay to expand emergency services, such as providing money for new fire stations so they aren’t so far away.

    Also, I believe that speed bumps are not allowed on streets designated for emergency response.

  12. One other thing: I don’t think were big and congested enough here to need it, but I’ve seen pictures of Manhattan streets and they have lanes marked “Fire Lane”. I’m guessing it helps make it clear which lane a drivers should get out of if they see a fire truck but can’t all pull to the side of the road.

  13. Jason McHuff wrote: However, I bet that part of the problem is that much growth is put into areas of brand-new development, instead of added to already developed areas by increasing density.

    Nope.

    Just on Thursday while on my TriMet BUS, I watched an AMR ambulance stuck in downtown Portland (actually, Broadway on the I-405 overpass) because traffic just wouldn’t move and there was nowhere to go.

    The grid system was completely useless to this Paramedic thanks to closed-off streets (thanks to MAX construction), one-way streets, etc. And Portland has made a big project out of breaking up the grid to vehicles (as “traffic-calming”) which has a negative impact towards emergency vehicles.

    Putting medics on motorcyles is innovative, certainly. But if we want to be really innovative, how about eliminating police cars and replacing them with motorcycles and paddywagons, and the occasional compact vehicle (following European standard) and eliminating most of the city’s vehicle fleet? Ambulances and fire trucks exist for a very good reason; Jeep Grand Cherokees and Ford Explorers in the City’s fleet not so much.

  14. Erik Halstead:“And Portland has made a big project out of breaking up the grid to vehicles (as “traffic-calming”) which has a negative impact towards emergency vehicles.”

    ws:Where have they broken up the grid system? Really, it doesn’t come down to a grid system, rather connected street networks.

  15. actually, Broadway on the I-405 overpass

    Well, that’s kind of an unusual situation. Because of the West Hills starting right there, I-405 and South Auditorium urban renewal, the only southbound streets are Broadway (7th), 5th, 1st and Naito (0). In other places, there could be useful parallel streets west of Broadway and 3rd would go through. (You can’t go south on Park beyond I-405 and 12th requires coming from 13th & Clay and winds into the West Hills). In addition, due to the street layout, Broadway to 6th (Terwilliger) is shorter than 5th to Sheridan to Terwilliger. And people wanting to get on I-5 south without winding down 5th/Sheridan/3rd/Arthur/Kelley/Hood essentially have to take the ramp from Broadway.

    closed-off streets (thanks to MAX construction)

    I think the streets have all been re-opened.

    Overall, my point is that, if the patient was from downtown or somewhere else close in, the ambulance doesn’t have to travel as far vs. coming from the suburbs. Now part of that’s due to where a hospital happens to be, but having patients spread out in suburban areas doesn’t mean that there’s more hospitals spread out.

  16. 5th/Sheridan/3rd/Arthur/Kelley/Hood

    BTW, I just discovered something: At SW Arthur at Natio, there’s no “To I-5” sign (which isn’t a big issue), but Lake Oswego traffic is directed to the right, up the ramp that parallels Naito Pkwy. You can get to Macadam Ave (and Lake Oswego) this way, but it requires you to take a path that gets congested and is more complicated by requiring four turns vs. just going straight and heeding this sign. Overall, changing the sign would be an easy but small fix to the transportation problems in that area.

  17. I’m curious–why do most of the municipal fire departments (TVF&R in particular) no longer have “rescue squads”–those pickup-sized vehicles used for medical responders? Nowadays, TVF&R sends a fire truck to medical calls–something which is a) overkill for a purely-medical incident (no fire, no technical rescue, no traffic accident), and b) still useless for getting the patient to the hospital.

    Part of this may be politics, and striking a blow against perceived “socialism”–for various reasons, in most parts of Oregon it has been deemed that medical transport (including emergency medical transport) is to be handled by private companies–thus fire departments FTMP no longer operate ambulances. But given that most rescue calls are to medical emergencies and not things requiring fire apparatus, I’m surprised that Squad 51 is no longer in business.

  18. Engineer Scotty you are on to the big question. Why send a hook and ladder truck to a retirement home as frequently happens at a retirement home on Division? It is too slow in the first place and cannot transport the patient in the second.

    I once walked a block in downtown Portland as a fire truck was trying to get up to speed behind me. I managed a block before the truck did.

  19. Jason Huff writes: “…people often don’t have a realistic choice of reducing the congestion that the fire trucks, etc., face by using a different form of transportation.”

    This is another issue which was specifically mentioned to Sam Adams, but ignored. What’s important in this town?

  20. PFB spreads its hook and ladder trucks around its service area, rather than concentrating them downtown–this way they get used less often when not needed. But chances are, the closest fire station to the retirement home you asked about a) had a hook-and-ladder, and b) doesn’t have much else–many neighborhood fire station only have 2-3 vehicles and crews. When the other vehicle(s) are out on calls already, and another comes in, then its the hook and ladder that rolls.

    Just my guess…

  21. Jason McHuff wrote: Overall, my point is that, if the patient was from downtown or somewhere else close in, the ambulance doesn’t have to travel as far vs. coming from the suburbs. Now part of that’s due to where a hospital happens to be, but having patients spread out in suburban areas doesn’t mean that there’s more hospitals spread out.

    If we truly want to argue the location of hospitals, OHSU Hospital ought to be “Public Enemy #1” – perched on top of a mountain with only one way up – and one way down, on a very dangerous road (especially when it’s snowy/icy) and ought to be moved immediately.
    The ‘burbs are quite well represented with medical facilities. Mt. Hood Medical Center in Gresham/Troutdale. Adventist Medical Center near Mall 205. Southwest Washington Medical Center and Salmon Creek Hospital in Vancouver. St. Vincent Hospital north of Beaverton. Tuality Hospitals in Hillsboro and Forest Grove. Meridian Park Hospital in Tualatin. Willamette Falls Hospital in Oregon City. Providence Milwaukie Hospital in Milwaukie. And Kaiser Sunnyside Hospital in Happy Valley.

    About the only place that I’d recommend a new hospital is in the Washington Square area. If anything, Portland has four hospitals closely concentrated (OHSU, Good Samaritan, Emanuel, Providence Medical Center). It should be noted that Portland is also where several hospitals have closed – Eastmoreland Hospital, Woodland Park Hospital, and the hospital opposite the Rose Quarter that is now used as part of the Oregon State Hospital.

    Just outside of the metro area, McMinnville, Newberg, and Hood River also boast hospitals.

    And it’s no coincidence that Emanuel Hospital has many of the region’s most advanced medical care facilities – given it’s proximity at the east end of the Fremont Bridge (I-405) and close to I-5 and I-84 as well. OHSU has the same facilities for being a research facility, not because of “ease of access”.

  22. EngineerScotty wrote: I’m curious–why do most of the municipal fire departments (TVF&R in particular) no longer have “rescue squads”–those pickup-sized vehicles used for medical responders?

    Actually it’s more likely that a municipal department does have a smaller “rescue” vehicle, it’s the Portland Fire Bureau that sends the long articulated hook-and-ladder out of Station 4 (on the PSU Campus) to every tiny (“Oh, I’m a bicyclist and scratched my knee because I ran a stop sign and had to ditch the bike because a car didn’t see me run the stop sign”) medic call.

    When I lived in McMinnville for many years, the MFD had Rescue 7 (later Rescue 1) which was a small truck on a Chevy chassis. It responded to virtually every call. It was later replaced with a new rescue vehicle which is essentially an ambulance in its own right, but isn’t generally used to transport patients (the MFD has three ambulances as well). Rescue 7 also had a small pump for small fires (mostly vehicle accidents).

    Like Portland, Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue generally has smaller neighborhood stations that have one or two engines total. There are a few larger stations – Tigard’s station houses a hazmat and heavy rescue truck; Progress’ station has a medic crew with an ambulance. Most of Portland’s stations are one-or-two truck outfits, with Station 1 downtown housing about a dozen different specialized trucks. Replacing a larger engine (structure engine) with a smaller rescue engine might be good for 75% of the calls which are medic calls…but as they say, “time matters” and if the nearest structure engine is 10 minutes away, that is the difference between saving a building and watching it burn.

  23. only one way up – and one way down

    Terwilliger Blvd does go both ways from OHSU. But I will agree that its odd to place such vital services up on a hill. However, that’s where Philip Augustus Marquam had his land, and its his land which got used for the hospitals.

  24. Yes, but OHSU isn’t on Terwilliger. It’s on Sam Jackson. Theoretically you could take the sharp, windy road from the OHSU Hospital building, below it to Doernbecher back to Terwilliger, but that is a less desirable, much longer route – not to mention stop signs every 200 feet or so.

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