Motorcycle Response Units Save Lives in Dense European Populations

I began my service in EMS and Fire at the tender age of 16. That makes it more than 25 years now of responding to the tones. I’ve worked in myriad roles: volunteer first aid, EMT, paramedic, firefighter, beach lifeguard, air ops, boat ops and as an emergency physician on a fast motorcycle response unit (MRU) in Hungary—by far my favorite job. Quick response motorcycles offer an efficient and highly effective platform for both EMS and fire departments whose present resources are stretched too thin due to increasing call volumes and stagnant budgets. More than half the countries on the planet utilize two-wheeled vehicles in some fashion to respond to emergencies.  Hungary was the first country worldwide to mount emergency physicians on very well-equipped fast response motorcycles that quickly worked their valuable way to the top of a tiered EMS system.  In addition to working on the MRU, I’m also the president and founder of the International Fire and EMS Motorcycle Response Unit Association (IMRUA), a trade organization working on improving the working environment of MRUs around the world and increasing awareness of this very effective, efficient form of EMS and fire response. Getting Things Started I became a paramedic in 2000 and one year later, I started working on an emergency ambulance (“R” class in Poland). My colleague Dr. Piotr Kołodziej and I often thought about how much more convenient it would be to use motorcycles to get to patients in a m...
Source: JEMS: Journal of Emergency Medical Services News - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Ambulances & Vehicle Ops News Operations Source Type: news