BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - THE Acting Fire Chief of the St. Kitts and Nevis Fire and Rescue Services Department is expressing his concerns with the way in which some motorists respond to - or their lack of response to - emergency vehicles.
Speaking with SKNVibes, Acting Fire Chief Everette O’Garro said there is an internationally accepted practice where once the sirens or horns of emergency vehicles are heard, or once their flashing lights are seen, motorists make room for them to pass.
According to O’Garro however, the Department, on various instances, has observed and received numerous complaints that some motorists disregard the practice of allowing emergency vehicles a cleared roadway to get to the scene of an emergency.
“We want to send a special word of caution and a reminder to the general public to try and be mindful and pay much more attention and care to emergency vehicles. We want people to recognise that when using the road and responding to emergencies, it is expected that these emergency vehicles would be travelling at considerable rates.
“An accepted international practice is that motorists and pedestrians are to give way to such vehicles when they are on their way to attend to an emergency.”
The Fire Chief (Ag) made special mention of the fire appliances which are larger vehicles, “due to the fact that they carry large amounts of extinguishing agents, equipment and personnel”.
He issued the appeal in light of a recent unfortunate incident where an elderly man lost his life, having been involved in a traffic accident with a vehicle from the Fire Department.
“We have seen and received complaints - and we have seen it happen - where people do not properly clear the roadways to allow for these emergency vehicles to pass en route to the scene of the emergency. We are concerned about these occurrences and our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the victim of this most-recent incident.”
Joseph Hercules of Mansion Village died on May 6 as a result of injuries sustained in an accident with a fire tender one week prior. The incident occurred in Hercules’ home town.
