I REFER to Revi Nair's letter "Ambulance signals are not consistent?" (The New Paper, 11 Oct).
SCDF emergency vehicles make use of the flashing lights and sirens when they are responding to an emergency call.
The flashing lights are meant to attract the attention of motorists and other road users to the approach of an emergency vehicle, while the siren is used primarily to alert motorists to give way when they obstruct the path of our responding emergency vehicles.
The siren is not used in light traffic conditions when there is no obstruction to our responding vehicles.
As part of SCDF's continuing effort to encourage civic-mindedness among motorists, we also have an ongoing "Drive with a Heart" campaign, where motorists randomly selected are given an award for giving way to SCDF emergency vehicles responding to distress calls.
We earnestly look forward to the continued cooperation of all motorists in giving way to emergency vehicles in order to facilitate us in fulfilling our life-saving mission.
We would like to thank Revi Nair for his feedback and the opportunity to clarify on the usage of the flashing lights and sirens on our ambulances as well as other emergency vehicles.
FROM LTC N SUBHAS DIRECTOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT
SINGAPORE CIVIL DEFENCE FORCE
This story was first published in The New Paper on Oct 15, 2008.
