“Siren City” Rep Prompts Quieting Moves

by Paul Bass | May 12, 2017 7:59 am

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New Haven can’t turn down the volume on ambulance or fire-engine sirens, but it can still lessen some of the noise — and it’s trying. So reported New Haven’s emergency management and fire chiefs and the regional head of American Medical Response (AMR) ambulance company. Facing both a steady increase in emergency medical calls as well as public complaints about noise, they have been working along with city Chief Administrative Officer Mike Carter to find ways to lessen the noise. The four officials offered an update on that quest — which began in 2014 at Mayor Toni Harp’s direction after complaints from the business community — at an unusual joint meeting with a single citizen at City Hall. Carter, emergency management chief Rick Fontana, Fire Chief John Alston Jr., and AMR regional chief Chuck Babson met in Carter’s office late last week with a University of Bridgeport law professor named Ryan Knox, who has been consistently contacted the city over the past two years about the increasing frequency of deafening sirens outside the Taft apartment building at College and Chapel streets, where he lives. They updated Knox on their efforts and explained what they can’t do. “It’s really an explosion in the last few years. It’s constant,” Knox told them. “We’re known as ‘Siren City.’” Fontana, Babson and Alston said that sirens in New Haven are set at the same levels as those in all other communities in the country, based on National Fire Protection Association standards. Also, Fontana noted, New Haven is the only one of Connecticut’s five largest cities to train all firefighters as emergency medical technicians. That means that often two or three crews — one AMR ambulance crew, a fire engine crew, and a fire paramedic crew, all with sirens blaring — show up at medical calls that might see only one or two elsewhere. Downtown, “canyons” between tall buildings magnify those sirens even further. And emergency medical calls have increased 6 to 7 percent a year for the past five years as the population ages, according to Babson. The city handled a total of around 40,000 emergency medical calls this past year, Fontana said: fire crews participated in 25,000 of them, while AMR handled the other 15,000 alone. “We do have more ambulances on the road. No doubt about it. We’re looking at data to make it better. We’ve made some changes,” Fontana said. “This is not falling on deaf ears.” Not All Calls The effort began after the siren issue kept coming up at meetings of a mayor’s Perception Task Force in 2014, Fontana said. One first step was to negotiate new protocols for when fire units accompany ambulances on 911 calls. The city stopped sending the fire crews to doctors’ offices where a call has come in that basically requires transportation to a hospital, he said. The new rule, which took effect in April 2015, affected nine medical office buildings as well as 30 hospital departments and local health clinics. (The fire department will go to some of those lower-priority calls if an ambulance isn’t available for 15 minutes.) That alone lowered the number of fire department-involved calls by 1,000 this past year, Fontana estimated. Fire engine companies still go to those locations to respond to calls involving cardiac or respiratory arrest, severe respiratory distress, unresponsive patients, and severe trauma (like gunshots, third-degree burns, amputation, or “falls greater than 20 feet”), according to a memo by former NHFD Operations Chief Matthew Marcarelli. In an interview Monday, city fire union President Frank Ricci said New Haveners are safer because of the general rule of sending fire paramedics to calls. The firefighters arrive promptly and can start giving victims oxygen and check their vitals, so that when the AMR crew arrives on the scene, its paramedics can proceed right into providing care. Also, Ricci said, “New Haven is basically a three-story city. There is no way for [AMR] paramedics to bring you down the stairs and render care. You need that engine company there. It takes six people to get somebody down the stairs with a monitor on them, oxygen on them. It’s not a two-person job.” That said, Ricci agreed that it makes sense not to send firefighters anymore to most doctor’s office calls, because trained first responders already work in those offices. He said that firefighters still end up going on some of those calls despite the new rule, because some more 911 dispatch protocols still need fine-tuning. AMR Repositions Meanwhile, AMR has reexamined where it positions its ambulances around town. It doesn’t keep the ambulances at a central locations; based on reviews of service calls, it chooses locations where the ambulances will be closest to the most likely destinations they’ll be sent. After receiving complaints like Ryan Knox’s, AMR has been able to find equally useful locations to station ambulances a few blocks away from the densest residential blocks. Meanwhile, AMR has reexamined where it positions its ambulances around town. It doesn’t keep the ambulances at a central locations; based on reviews of service calls, it chooses locations where the ambulances will be closest to the most likely destinations they’ll be sent. After receiving complaints like Ryan Knox’s, AMR has been able to find equally useful locations to station ambulances a few blocks away from the densest residential blocks. AMR is gradually reducing how much of its fleet runs on diesel engines, which also helps reduce noise, Babson said. Fontana and Fire Chief Alston said it may be possible to have firefighters delay turning on sirens at the beginning of some lower-priority calls. That matter is now under review. Fontana added that the city is in the process of purchasing a new paramedic ambulance for the fire department. The department currently has two; the new one, based at Dixwell’s Goffe Street station, will lessen the routes that they need to travel, sirens blaring, to calls. Win Davis, executive director of the Town Green Special Services District, has participated in the Perception Task Force meetings. He credited city CAO Carter with making progress in response to he public’s concerns. “My office is on the seventh floor of 900 Chapel. Since we started talking about this issue with the city, I hear fewer sirens,” Davis said in an interview. Knox is less impressed. In his ten years living downtown, he said following the meeting at City Hall, he has noticed the noise getting worse over the past two years, “an explosion of noise, mostly ambulance and fire engine air horns. I don’t remember all the fire trucks attempting to barrel through downtown, clear intersections and take tight corners. I know for a fact people are moving out of downtown because of it, and when it comes to trying to get people to come in, it isn’t panhandling, or meters, or crime. It is sirens that gets mentioned most often.” Knox said he appreciated that city officials “took the time to meet with me” to discuss solutions. He said he feels the city should hold a public hearing on the subject and reconsider the “logic of sending all that fire equipment and mass, and then billing the taxpayer. I think there should be some proportionality to EMT responses — we don’t send in SWAT teams and paratroopers just to save time for example, so I wonder what the trade-off is between a sustained quality of life and the need to shave off one minute to a call.” Fontana said the search for more ways to reduce noise will continue, but sirens remain a fact of life in a city with two major hospitals. “The bottom line is we’re trying to do as best as we can to provide the highest level of emergency care at the lowest noise level possible,” Fontana said. “Unfortunately, when you’re going on an emergency call, you need to move vehicles out of the way, and you have to use a siren to do that.”

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posted by: Dwightstreeter on May 11, 2017 4:38pm Years ago I was told by a YNHH nurse that ambulances were not supposed to use their sirens on side streets - like Dwight - but you can regularly observe them doing that day and night. It is piercing and disruptive inside dwellings, not just outside.

As for the downtown, it is an ongoing cacaphony of sirens and motorcycles with deliberately busted mufflers. How hard is it for the NHPD to ticket some of their bros and make them fix their mufflers?

Loud sounds are documented to cause stress.

This is a public health issue, not just a public relations one.

posted by: Anderson Scooper on May 11, 2017 5:19pm THE FRIGGIN’ MOTORCYCLES are the problem in terms of downtown noise. The ambulances are annoying, but they rank well behind the motorcycles. (And the cars with the massive subwoofers!) Ticket the suburban jackasses riding around on their straight-pipe hogs, waking up hundreds of people on a weekend night!

posted by: HewNaven on May 11, 2017 7:27pm Thank you, Anderson! One guy complains about sirens and they bring him into the mayor’s office? We’ve all been complaining about loud motorcycles for years. Problem is, many cops are motorheads. They laugh and look the other way. Also, you can’t just call these idiots in for a meeting. You have to pull over each one and issue an infraction. Very time consuming compared to the siren issue.

posted by: Kevin McCarthy on May 11, 2017 9:21pm As a practical matter, we can’t reduce the volume of the sirens. But we can ask AMR and the NHFD to be more judicious in their use. I live a block away from I-91. I routinely hear ambulance sirens from the highway for periods of five minutes or more, i.e., the entire trip in the city. This is undoubtedly necessary during rush hour to deal with traffic. But the same phenomenon occurs late at night when traffic volumes are much lower. Ultimately, the decision on when to use sirens has to be left to the ambulance driver. But, to pick up on Dwightstreeter’s point, noise pollution jeopardizes public health. It would be in the public interest to limit the use of sirens to circumstances when it is necessary to protect the safety of the ambulance crew, patient, or other drivers.

posted by: 093Local on May 12, 2017 12:15am While it’s entirely understandable that sirens may be a problem for the community’s health and may negatively impact quality of life, an emergency vehicle, being a police cruiser, fire truck, ambulance, etc, is only considered to be an “emergency vehicle” while both audible and visible markers are engaged pursuant to CT statute 14-283. It comes down to liability for emergency personnel. Of course it’s common practice for some to shut the sirens down given certain situations, but if it results in a crash or worse, that individual operating the emergency vehicle will be held liable.

posted by: 32knot on May 12, 2017 7:29am Sitting in my house last night in Morris Cove and a NHFD Paramedic truck and 2 police cars went by about 8:30pm with lights flashing but no sirens. I thought somebody in charge got the message, good job. And then 2 minutes later a AMR ambulance went by with siren going off the length of the long street, not just at the intersection. It was not an emergency because the NHFD and NHPD were not going at high speed and neither was AMR. So what was the deal AMR???? The loud motorcycles are out of control all over the city not just downtown.

posted by: brownetowne on May 12, 2017 10:26am Babson’s comment about diesel engines is hilarious. That has nothing to do with the noise of sirens. After reading this article it seems like absolutely nothing will change and will likely get worse, despite any pathetic efforts that have been ongoing since 2014.

posted by: theNEWnewhaven on May 12, 2017 11:04am I totally agree,... unless someone I care about is in the ambulance. So,... let’s realize these trips are IMPORTANT for those taking them. Maybe ask your landlord for double-paned windows WITHOUT the lead paint. Also, get a fan/white noise machine. Or, move to Woodbridge.

posted by: Rivertostate on May 12, 2017 2:37pm 093local is 100% correct. State statute states that if an emergency vehicle is responding with their emergency lights on they must also be using their siren. While some operators disregard this the liability will fall in them in the event of an accident. When one chooses to live in an urban environment sirens are a part of life. This is pretty basic and complaining about certainly isn’t going to change it one bit! Do you want emergency vehicles not arriving in a timely manner? Do you want the chronically complaining cyclists whining they didn’t hear the emergency vehicle that they turned into? Do you want the Yalie with their face in their cell phone jay walking hit because they stepped out in front of the vehicle? I for one will be making sure my siren is blaring, air horn blasting, and going just a little bit slower by The Taft from now on… just sayin’. This is just a waste of time of all those department heads!!

posted by: just my view on May 12, 2017 4:26pm @093 - spot on and Attorney Knox should know that. Public expectation is that all 911 responses should be lights and sirens and they should be there as soon after hanging up the phone as possible when in reality the 1-2 minutes saved utilizing lights and sirens in most communities are meaningless in all but a few true life-threatening emergencies. The path should be to eliminate as many dangerous light and siren responses as possible while continuing to educate the public.

posted by: mmrmike1 on May 12, 2017 5:01pm All these people complaining about noise are obviously new to the city. If your looking for peace and quiet then move back to the suburbs and stop your whining. I for one have a difficult time sleeping with the noise of crickets when I’m of town. What are they going to complain about next, the street lights are to bright?

posted by: THREEFIFTHS on May 12, 2017 5:20pm posted by: 32knot on May 12, 2017 7:29am Sitting in my house last night in Morris Cove and a NHFD Paramedic truck and 2 police cars went by about 8:30pm with lights flashing but no sirens. Sometimes when someone has an injury that gets worse with stress and worry (i.e heart attack) they will shut off the sirens to help calm them down.

posted by: Anderson Scooper on May 12, 2017 6:13pm @ Mike—You sound like a really good guy so I hope you can understand that while City dwellers are tolerant people and are used to putting up with a lot of ambient noise, there are still limits to that which can be considered reasonable and acceptable. Should an urban neighborhood really be an anything-goes environment? Is that what you’re advocating for? The garbage trucks don’t have to pick-up at 4am in the morning, the nightclubs don’t have to jack their monster speakers up to seismic levels, the motorcycles don’t need to go screaming around town being as loud as possible, the sirens could definitely be toned down, etc., etc. Most of this is just basic human decency, and that which is routinely enforced in suburban towns should also be enforced in New Haven. That doesn’t mean there won’t remain a great deal of noise for urban residents to contend with. It does mean that gross and obnoxious behavior should be regulated and curbed, for the sake of strong neighborhoods and normal quality of life concerns. Thanks so much.

posted by: hrsn on May 12, 2017 9:27pm New Haven’s sirens are the loudest I’ve experienced in a number of cities I’ve lived in. Even in NYC, they’re using low-frequency directional sirens that clear traffic perfectly well.

posted by: Rivertostate on May 13, 2017 5:43am Anderson… 1. YES garbage trucks need to pick up at 4am! Otherwise they clog the streets for commuters,and the drivers are unable navigate the trucks into the alleys due to traffic and parked cars. 2. YES the clubs need to play loud music because that is part of New Havens nightlife and generates quite a bit of revenue for the city. 3. I’ll agree with you about motorcycle noise but this is not a problem unique to the city, this plagues suburbs as well. And I’m not sure what kind of laws are on the books to enforce it. 4. hrsn, ive been hearing that tale for the last 20 years. “New Haven’s sirens are louder than anywhere else”. I assure you New Haven’s sirens are no louder than anywhere else. While some cities / emergency services may be migrating to lower frequency sirens most still just have plain old sirens.

So in reply to Andersons comment, NO the sirens can’t (and won’t) be turned down. It seems this new city dwelling movement is trying to change everything that brought them to the city. I lived downtown on Crown St for 3 years, it was a good time! But I never whined about the noise, the cars, or the suburbanites that contribute to the city. I knew what I was getting into when I signed my lease, if anybody thought that living in Downtown New Haven was going to provide peace and tranquility that truly is laughable. May I recommend ear plugs, a white noise machine, or a moving company.

posted by: Newresident2015 on May 13, 2017 4:37pm I have lived in NYC, London and other large cities with many more emergencies and hospitals than tiny New Haven. I agree that the use of sirens in New Haven is way out of proportion. I dont see a lot of traffic getting in the way of emergency vehicles at 10PM in the side streets of the East Rock area of New Haven where I live. Yet sirens all on at full strength as soon as they leave the fire house. Is it really necessary?

posted by: Dwightstreeter on May 13, 2017 8:20pm @Rivertostate: It is a violation of local ordinance to pick up garbage at 4 AM. I know because I got the police to deal with the violator on Howe St. As I recall, 7 AM is acceptable - except the violator started slipping to 6 AM until I contacted my local police to remind the violator.

If you want a city or town people want to live in, you have to provide some basics, like light, air and quiet time for sleep.

You may not care, but I sure do.

posted by: Gretchen Pritchard on May 14, 2017 1:45pm I figure with live in a town with a gigantic tertiary-care hospital downtown, we’re gonna get some ambulances. A couple of thoughts, though: I don’t understand why a call to the emergency dispatcher where you specifically say “My neighbor’s not home, their smoke alarm is going off and I THINK I smell smoke; can you send someone to check it out?” is followed by a screaming full-bore squadron of two hook-and-ladder trucks, an ambulance, and a cop car, all of which can be heard from seven blocks away as soon as they pull out of the fire station. Also: I assume some of these runs, especially some of the ones that don’t give the appearance of being genuine emergencies, must be training runs. It’s obviously not easy to drive even an ambulance, let alone a monster-sized fire truck, as safely as possible and at the same time as fast as possible, through city traffic, claiming all the appropriate rights of way but not endangering others. It stands to reason it has to be practiced with real-world sirens blaring. On the other hand, I always assume a certain number of runs, also, are donut runs. Especially the ones where the driver turns on the siren right before an intersection with a red light and turns it back off again once the vehicle has run the red slight with impunity.

posted by: Rivertostate on May 14, 2017 4:57pm Gretchen,

1. Your example 911 call regarding your neighbors smoke alarm and you possibly smelling smoke warrants a box alarm assignment, because it could be a house fire.. the actual response was probably 3 Engines, 1 ladder truck, 1 Squad, an emergency unit, and a Battalion Chief. That is the standard structure fire response in New Haven. 911 dispatchers are trained to dispatch on the worst possible scenario. What if your neighbors house WAS on fire? A fire doubles in size every minute, had they only sent 1 truck no lights or siren they would have arrived later, had a bigger fire to deal with, had to call for more help, and this delay would have caused a danger to life safety and more property damage. But hey!! They didn’t disturb you! 2. No emergency service has real life light and siren training. Training is done in non emergency mode and when emergency calls do come in driver trainees drive to real emergencies. 3. Your comment about coffee runs is insulting! No sane emergency service worker would utilize their lights and siren to get coffee or for any other reason other than an emergency response. The liability is too great! If they were to get in an accident they could lose their job! When you see and emergency vehicle shut their lights and siren down it is because that particular response was downgraded by a dispatcher or some one on scene, there may have also been a closer unit who took the call. In this litigious society department heads will always err on the side of caution. Dispatchers have to take the public’s information with a grain of salt and dispatch the proper resources. If that makes a few people upset because a siren drove by their house so be it! Those sirens are responding to unknown emergencies. And until professionals arrive on the scene the scope of that emergency is unknown.