The defensive four second rule

I’m in the front sitting with my partner who’s scoffing down a slice of pizza while I’m watching YouTube videos on my phone. A crisp fall afternoon, i can see people on their daily route home from work.Then a call comes over- 30 year old female at OBGYN office, abdominal pain, confirmed pregnant 4 cm dilated, patient wants to go to Woodhull hospital. “Here we go again” i thought to myself. You see OBGYN aka pregnancy type calls are uncommon in our area. We mostly get the difficulty breathing, suspected Myocardial infarction, and stroke type calls.

Lights and sirens are in full effect as my partner and I thrown on our seatbelts to get to our patient. Quick shoulder check as i peel out of my parking spot. En-route to the patient i stop at a red light while doing a quick scan and accelerate through to intersection with due regard. I say to my partner “She’s definitely in labor, I really don’t want to deliver a baby in the ambulance. You know because it becomes a two patient job and its extra paperwork” as i try not to sound tense.My partner turns to me and says “I know she’s in labor and all but your sounding like the baby” Ouch!

What does this have to do with driving safety? Well I am an EMT (Emergency medical technician) in New York city, driving a two plus ton pound vehicle in NYC traffic. Driving is very important, when I clinched my first EMS job we went through orientation; one of the stages was our CEVO training. CEVO stands for coaching the emergency vehicle operator, this is the point where we watched videos on things not to do as an EMT operating the emergency vehicle. We saw the usual bad habits like texting while driving, sleeping at the wheel, switching lanes without looking, and non emergency speeding. We went through various things like scanning the road for potential hazards, cushions of safety, vehicle positioning, and understanding your blind spots.

As the training was in progress I found myself thinking “Why do I need this? I already got my license and I’m a great driver.” Here’s the thing, the CEVO training goes further in depth on have to be a great defensive driver and reduce the number of accidents. These are things most people do not do after getting their license. This is why I titled this essay “The defensive four second rule” this is a rule I took from my CEVO training and my experiences driving an ambulance that I was able to use in my personal life. For example, let’s say you’re on a highway and the car in front of you passed a pillar. As an ambulance there should be at least a four second gap until you pass the same pillar. This gives the EMT who is operating the ambulance ample time to react in case they have to stop. This is because an ambulance is so heavy that it takes longer to come to a complete stop. I haven’t been in an accident before however in training we saw EMTs rear end multiple cars due to the fact that the ambulance takes longer to stop and the drivers did use the defensive four second rule. Now in your personal vehicle it’s more likely that you’re able to come to a complete stop faster than an ambulance.

So what can we learn from my CEVO training and experiences being an EMT in NYC? I get it, most of the people reading this won’t be driving ambulances in densely populated environments. I still recommend the use of the four second rule and with that you can use leaning forward while checking your side mirrors, this helps you see your blind spots more clearly while making a turn or changing lanes. Share safe driving tips with friends and family. We all know someone who struggles with some aspect of driving. Maybe you have questions or want to get better at driving; sign up for a defensive driving course. I attribute me not getting into an accident both in my personal and emergency vehicle to these rules: 4 second rule, leaning forward, never drinking and driving and driving at a reasonable speed. Remember whether its in emergency medicine or a casual drive, if you are driving then your passengers lives are in your hands. The 4 minutes that you save getting to your destination while speeding is never worth it.