Emergency traffic power
Ambos, firies get switch to change lights
CAIRNS emergency service vehicles stuck in gridlock while on route to serious situations have been handed the power to change traffic lights in their favour.
Almost 40 ambulances and several fire trucks have been fitted with special technology linking their GPS to the Department of Transport and Main Roads to give paramedics and firefighters a clear run.
Acting Main Roads and Road Safety Minister Steven Miles said 72 intersections were covered by the new technology and emergency responders could potentially see a 26 per cent drop in time getting to emergencies.
He said Cairns had become just the third location to roll out the new plan after success in Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
Police are yet to be given the same tools.
“The time it could save ambulance or firefighting vehicles arriving at the scene of an emergency could be the difference between life and death,” Mr Miles said.
Queensland Service senior Ambulance operations supervisor Neil Noble said some of the worst bottle necks for paramedics were on Sheridan St and at the intersection of Mulgrave Rd and McCoombe St at Earlville.
He said, if treating someone in cardiac arrest, every minute delayed in getting to the patient decreased their survival chances by 10 per cent.
Barron River MP Craig Crawford, a former paramedic, said if travelling from one side of Cairns to another, emergency services may need to travel through up to 30 sets of lights, raising the chances of delay.
The technology is now set to be rolled out in four other Queensland cities.