YIELD FOR WOUNDED WARRIORS

Published March 25, 2011
By Master Sgt. Nancy Turner
779th Medical Group

Joint Base Andrews, MD -- The 779th Medical Group's Aeromedical Staging Facility staff on Joint Base Andrews, Md., uses white ambulance buses, referred to as AMBUS's, to transport injured and ill service members to and from the flightline and local military Hospitals. The AMBUSs are outfitted with lights and sirens designed to facilitate their movement through traffic to reach their destinations by alerting the public that they need to pass, but lately we have experienced problems with individual drivers not yielding to the AMBUSs.

The transportation of Wounded Warriors is the primary mission of the ASF. Joint Base Andrews is the sole east coast hub for all Aeromedical Evacuation flights returning with patients coming from Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. These patients typically stay about 12-18 hours at the hospital on base and are flown out to their final destination, which may be their home station, home of record, or the medical facility closest to home where they can receive follow-up care.

Failure to yield to our AMBUSs can, at a minimum, result in a fine of $110 and assessment of 1 point on your license. People should remember that although it is much larger than regular ambulance, it is used for the transport of patients just like any other emergency vehicle.

An emergency vehicle is any vehicle that is designated and authorized to respond to an emergency. Often emergency vehicles are permitted by law to break conventional road rules in order to reach their destinations in the fastest possible time, such as (but not limited to) driving through an intersection when the traffic light is red, or exceeding the speed limit. When an emergency vehicle is on the road while using its warning devices, ALL cars are required to pull over to the side of the road, stop, and wait for the vehicle to pass before resuming normal driving, unless doing so would cause an accident or if stopped at a red light/stop sign. Even in areas where no such laws exist, many motorists may allow the vehicle to pass as a matter of courtesy. Our staff and patients from the ASF are not seeing that courtesy consistently extended to them here on Joint Base Andrews. Some drivers are so bold as to cut us off or even try to go around us.

"Our AMBUSs are carrying service members returning to the United States for care. Our job is to get them back to the hospital or on to their next flight as quickly and as safely as possible. When drivers on base don't stop for our vehicles, it makes it difficult for us to carry out our mission and it sends a message to the Wounded Warriors on board that the public on Joint Base Andrews don't care," said Major Nancy Salmans, flight commander for the ASF.

So, next time you see a caravan of white buses driving down the road with emergency lights flashing, please pull over and allow the AMBUSs to pass, carry out their mission, and get these heroes home to their families so they can get the care they need.