Emergency Vehicles

Emergency equipment responding to incidents for assistance need the right of way. The Laurel Volunteer Fire Department's fire technicians or drivers have been instructed by county fire department driving regulations to come to a complete stop at all red traffic lights and stop signs, but we still need everyone's help to ensure that we can get there both quickly and safely. It could mean the difference between life and death. When you see lights or hear sirens, we ask you to: Immediately yield the right of way. This can be done by calmly and carefully pulling to the right edge of the roadway.

The cafeteria at the Johns Hopkins at Keswick complex was shut down Tuesday after 18 people were sickened with an unknown condition and 600 evacuated from the building in North Baltimore. Fire and emergency management officials are still investigating what caused the illness that gave employees breathing problems, but one of the theories is possible food contamination. We are "trying to chase down what everybody ate," said Connor Scott, a spokesman with the Mayor's Office of Emergency Management.

IT'S A BASIC RULE of driving. When emergency sirens are blaring and lights are flashing, drivers must get out of the way. But too often, some motorists seem to think they have other options when a firetruck or rescue vehicle is racing to help someone. These drivers refuse to yield. Or they panic and stop, impeding the rescue. And then there are the motorists who, incredibly, cut in front of emergency vehicles. They must have slept through driver's ed classes. So let's review: Motorists are required to pull to the right in ideal driving situations and onto the shoulder of the road if one exists.

Emergency equipment responding to incidents for assistance need the right of way. The Laurel Volunteer Fire Department's fire technicians or drivers have been instructed by county fire department driving regulations to come to a complete stop at all red traffic lights and stop signs, but we still need everyone's help to ensure that we can get there both quickly and safely. It could mean the difference between life and death. When you see lights or hear sirens, we ask you to: Immediately yield the right of way. This can be done by calmly and carefully pulling to the right edge of the roadway.

Troubled by collisions that result from police cars responding to emergencies, City Councilwoman Lisa Joi Stancil wants to impose penalties on officers who violate traffic regulations and motorists who fail to yield to emergency vehicles. Under the legislation awaiting a public hearing, police officers could not exceed the maximum speed for city streets. Officers who violate the proposed ordinance or motorists who fail to yield to emergency vehicles would be fined $1,000 and be subject to a court-ordered driver's education course.

Attempting to ensure that emergency vehicles can get to fire scenes on narrow roads, Hampstead officials are trying to strike a balance between public safety and parking convenience for residents. To make the narrower town roads more accessible to fire engines and snowplows, the town has proposed limiting parking to one side of four streets. "This is a tough balancing act on an issue that broaches public safety for people who have been able to park on the street for as long as they have owned their homes," said Mayor Haven N. Shoemaker Jr. "We are asking them to make a radical change."

The sirens are blaring. The lights are flashing. For some drivers, it's not a signal to pull over and let the ambulance, police cruiser or firetruck pass. Instead, they panic and stop, Annapolis public safety officials say -- or worse, they pass and pull in front of emergency vehicles. But officials have begun to crack down on drivers who fail to yield to emergency vehicles, issuing tickets that carry a $60 fine and one point on their driver's licenses. Last week, police began following ambulances and firetrucks to ensure drivers are pulling over safely, said Annapolis police Officer Eric E. Crane, a department spokesman.

The cafeteria at the Johns Hopkins at Keswick complex was shut down Tuesday after 18 people were sickened with an unknown condition and 600 evacuated from the building in North Baltimore. Fire and emergency management officials are still investigating what caused the illness that gave employees breathing problems, but one of the theories is possible food contamination. We are "trying to chase down what everybody ate," said Connor Scott, a spokesman with the Mayor's Office of Emergency Management.

Noise Cancellation Technologies Inc. has found a new marke for its electronic sound reduction system: wailing and screaming firetrucks and ambulances.NCT said yesterday that it reached an agreement with the Federal Signal Corp., the nation's largest maker of emergency vehicles, sirens and other equipment for police, fire and emergency vehicles, to market and distribute its noise reduction equipment.The agreement, expected to result in $30 million in business for NCT over the next five years, includes the sale of headsets to eliminate about 70 percent of the siren noise inside emergency vehicles.

It was much ado about a simple case of the stomach flu. That was the diagnosis in the aftermath of Thursday night's incident at Baltimore-Washington International Airport that drew emergency vehicles -- and television news crews -- to the scene after reports of illness aboard a Southwest Airlines flight from Houston. The plane was even quarantined and boarded by a hazardous materials crew after landing about 10:30 p.m. It turned out that a sick woman had boarded the plane in Houston, vomited while on board and caused three other passengers to feel ill. She was treated at North Arundel Hospital and released early yesterday morning.

Baltimore's spending board approved Wednesday three settlements totaling $340,000 in claims made against the city, including a civil suit stemming from a 2007 accident in which a fire truck collided with a car, leaving three people dead. The five member Board of Estimates, which includes Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young and City Comptroller Joan Pratt, voted unanimously to approve the three settlements. Relatives of victims in the 2007 crash — a husband, wife and a friend — will split $40,000.

Johns Hopkins Bayview campus plans to begin construction on a new $40 million emergency department annex on April 1, and some roads will be closed while work is being done. Nathan Shock Drive will be closed from Bayview Boulevard to Bioscience Drive. Maryland Transit Administration bus stops will also close at the blue awning, at the Bayview Medical Offices entrance, and on Nathan Shock Drive, by the emergency department. Bus 22 and Bus 30 will be rerouted with stops at Hopkins Bayview Circle.

FedEx is a shipping company — except on football Sundays in Washington. Verizon is a communications company, unless professional hockey is being played at the home of the Capitals. Verizon competes with Comcast, unless you're talking about the home court of the University of Maryland Terrapins. Now, State Farm Insurance wants to be identified as a good Samaritan by drivers whose cars go kaput on Maryland highways. Just like FedEx, Verizon and Comcast, the insurance company has entered into a partnership — albeit somewhat less glamorous than the others — with the state of Maryland.

Annapolis drivers and pedestrians can expect traffic congestion Monday around St. John's College, as police and fire departments conduct an emergency exercise on the campus. People can expect see emergency equipment, including ambulances and police vehicles, for the exercise that starts at 9 a.m. and runs for several hours. The nature of the exercise is not being disclosed. This will be the second mock emergency response drill in the area in a week. On Tuesday, Anne Arundel County police and other agencies spent half a day at Downs Park in Pasadena for a mock search and rescue for three missing adults who had dementia.

The snow has been coming down hard for a few hours, and coupled with 40-plus mile an hour winds, area roads are "beyond treacherous," according to the State Highway Administration. There are some vehicles moving on major highways, but in many cases, the roads are down to one lane and crews are having difficulty keeping those open, said David Buck, administration spokesman. "This is a white-out, deteriorating condition," said Buck. "This is not a day to be outside." Officials are encouraging people not to drive.

State lawmakers are considering several proposals to require drivers to slow down and move over for emergency and towing vehicles that have pulled to the side of the road. Maryland is one of just three states without a "move over" law, said Sen. Nancy Jacobs, a Harford and Cecil County Republican who is sponsoring one of the measures. Several other senators have similar proposals, which are largely supported by fire and police unions and the State Highway Administration. Jacobs' bill would require drivers to vacate the lane closest to the shoulder where an emergency vehicle with active lights has stopped.

An Anne Arundel County police officer was injured in a crash late Monday as he sped north on Crain Highway to assist another officer, county police said. Cpl. Edward Kuentzel, a 17-year veteran, injured his chest and rib cage in the accident. He was released from the Maryland Shock Trauma Center yesterday, a hospital spokeswoman said. The officer's 1999 Ford Crown Victoria collided with a 1996 Honda Accord and then careened into a signal pole at Fifth Avenue and Crain Highway in Glen Burnie just before midnight, police said.

Sonny Miller wanted something different at yesterday's auction at the Maryland State Fairgrounds. Nothing like John Lennon's psychedelic Rolls-Royce, Madonna's 1969 Mercedes or even Jacqueline McLean's Mercury Grand Marquis. This wasn't Sotheby's, after all. We're talking Timonium.No, at the first auction anyone around here remembers for emergency vehicles, Mr. Miller bid for a 1986 Econoline 350 ambulance, with plenty of room for arm boards, head blocks, burn sheets and an amputation kit. Canary yellow and only 93,000 miles on this baby!

The Baltimore Fire Department released yesterday the names of the four firefighters involved in a fatal accident that killed three people in a sport utility vehicle Sunday. The driver of Truck 27 was Nathaniel D. Moore, 40, a firefighter and paramedic apprentice who joined the department three years ago, a department spokesman said. Passengers on the truck were identified as Lt. Thomas Moore, a 33-year veteran, not related to the driver; Darryl Alexander, a 25-year veteran; and Kenneth Jacobs, a 13-year veteran.

It was much ado about a simple case of the stomach flu. That was the diagnosis in the aftermath of Thursday night's incident at Baltimore-Washington International Airport that drew emergency vehicles -- and television news crews -- to the scene after reports of illness aboard a Southwest Airlines flight from Houston. The plane was even quarantined and boarded by a hazardous materials crew after landing about 10:30 p.m. It turned out that a sick woman had boarded the plane in Houston, vomited while on board and caused three other passengers to feel ill. She was treated at North Arundel Hospital and released early yesterday morning.