Lights and Sirens to the Rescue

I wrote the other day about cluster days. Today was child psych cluster day. Our first four calls were for child EDPs(emotionally disturbed persons). The first call they sent us lights and sirens for the 12 year old violent psych, police on scene. The next was also lights and sirens for the 9 year old misbehaving on one of the floors at a pyschiatric hospital. What is wrong with these pictures? Cops on scene and a patient in a psychiatric hospital and they need an ambulance lights and sirens to save the day? In both cases as expected the scenes were well under control before we arrived. Why were were sent lights and sirens has more to do with how the EMS system is set up then with common sense. I intend to use these cases as an illustration tomorrow in the medical advisory committee meeting when we talk about developing a region wide policy for lights and sirens use.

Other calls: nursing home altered mental status, chest pain, dialysis transfer and a cheerleader who threw a cheerleader up in the air but had trouble catching her when she came down.