Every night, an ambulance screams down our street or the next street over

[Orrex]

Almost without fail, and it's invariably about 15 minutes after we've put our two-year-old to bed. He's a big fan of ambulances, so the siren restores him to full wakefulness and results in 20 minutes of discussion when he should already be sleeping.

I'm not saying that there shouldn't be ambulances, but for god's sake I swear I haven't seen one during daylight hours in at least eight months.

Who's the asshole having a medical emergency every night between 8:20 and 8:45?!?!?

[Bossy Monkey]

1. I was going to say "What part of West Philly do you live in?" but your profile isn't that specific

When I lived in West Philly in the '80s, this was a seemingly continual (or -ous-- I could never get the two words straight) occurrence. Some of the sirens may have been fire trucks, though, and no two-year-olds were involved, fortunately.

[Orrex]

2. Western PA, in a small town north of Pittsburgh

Incidentally, the two-year-old is still awake and squawking, a full 80 minutes after the siren...

:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

[Left Is Write]

3. Maybe it's a ruse, like the one Fred and Barney used to get out of the house every night -

they were on the volunteer fire department.

[Orrex]

4. Possibly, but the buildings in my town aren't made of rock!

At least, not on this end of town...

[TZ]

5. Huh

We quite frequently have fire trucks and ambulances in my condo development but when they get close they often turn the sirens off...the lights stay on though..

[Ptah]

6. Sorry, that's my daughter's taxi

:blush:

[Orrex]

7. Well, could she maybe turn down the volume a bit as she passes through my neighborhood?

I'd totally be her BFF if she did!

[Ptah]

8. She likes it loud

[5thGenDemocrat]

9. I live within three blocks of two different hospitals

Ambulances go by all the time and I don't even hear 'em anymore. Of course, I've lived here (off and on) since 1961.
John
There's also a heli-pad over there which gets helicopters three or four times a day. THOSE I hear.

[Orrex]

12. That would be hard to take!

I mean, it's nice to be so close to the hospitals, but that constant noise is a heck of a trade-off.

[5thGenDemocrat]

25. Like I said -- I don't consciously hear the sirens

But when a helicopter comes over the house at, literally, 100 feet, the ground shakes and the windows rattle. It's a bit like living in a MASH unit.
Still, this is a great old urban Saginaw neighborhood (my house was built in 1877 and my family's owned it since 1951) and I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.
John
Figures he'll stop hearing the copters at some point, too.

[Dammit Ann]

10. You may live near a EMS substation.

Remote from the hospital. I used to, right across the street. It was hell.

[Orrex]

11. A good thought, but no

What really baffles me is that almost none go by during the day, and when they do they don't blast their sirens. They wait until the bedtime hour and then the party starts!

[whistler162]

24. The obvious question is....

where did he get a cellphone and the number of the local fire department.

Also how did he get so friendly with the ambulance crew that he gets them to roll by your house with sirens screaming at bedtime

[TheMightyFavog]

13. When I was in College...

One of the city's Fire/EMS stations was three blocks away from my dorm building, the Hospital was two blocks away. We heard sirens all the time, mostly at night. You leaned to ignore them quickly.

What would wake me up were the local teenage asshats with the jacked up pickup trucks with the illegally modified exhaust systems who'd gun the engine at the intersection every goddamn weekend. There were nights when I wanted nothing more than to track those micropenis-possessing demon fucks, and wail on their precious trucks with a 16-pound sledgehammer.

[Orrex]

14. See, I can ignore them just fine

But I can't ignore the two-year-old howling in his room from 8:30 to 11:00!

[Tuesday Afternoon]

15. trying to work up sympathy for your predicament ---

let me see .... a child loving life

vs.


the possiblity of a human being dying


Houston....I have a problem.


Trying.


Still trying.









































Just who is the asshole here?

[Orrex]

17. Yikes! Easy there, fireball!

I think the pseudo-serious tone of my OP was pretty clear. I was faux-ranting about my boundlessly energetic but increasingly cranky toddler, a plight with which, I believe, most parents can identify.

But, honestly, would it kill the anonymous guy to have his nightly heart attack at 7:15 instead of 8:15?

[Tuesday Afternoon]

18. yeah, I know ... but even the rant lacks the energy necessary

to be a really awesome Rant. You just sound like a tired and cranky parent ;)

Trust me, one day, you will look back on these days with fondness and will MISS Them.

These are the good ole days, my friend.

Put him in the car and go for a ride. Rock him. Tell him yet ANOTHER bedtime story. Be thankful for more quality time to spend with him. There comes a day when he no longer seeks you to solve his problems.

[Orrex]

20. Everyone says that, but I'll tell you this:

Give those same wistful parents a few weeks of cranky, non-sleeping, non-eating babies, and I guarantee you that the nostalgia would start to lose a bit of its shine!

I'm not asking for an end to his energetic frenzy, but if he'd just go to bed without a fuss once in a while, it would make a world of difference.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

21. Maybe,

you and your wife need a weekend getaway, where you can relax and refocus.

[Orrex]

22. LOL!

You might as well tell us to ride a unicorn to the planet Zoxxo.


But thank you for the sentiment! :hug:

[NJmaverick]

16. Interesting

Perhaps you live near a few, what we in EMS call, frequent flyers.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

19. Do you guys use the bells and whistles for the Frequent Fliers? --

Of course, the chronically ill with major issues will have several life threatening scenarios. So I can see where bells and whistles would be warranted.

[NJmaverick]

23. As a rule we try to us the Sirens as little as possible

We are taught to be judicious in their use. If we have a patient it will tend to increase the anxiety level and we are also taught that the more we use them the more likely the public is to ignore them.

As for frequent flyers, so have chronic conditions that just causes frequent emergencies, while others are simply prone to over use our services.

[applegrove]

26. My brother once lived in an apartment down the street from the fire station. Their house was right

at the first intersection the firetruck came to. So they wouldn't turn on their sirens until they were right outside my brother's apartment. They hated that. Somehow when it is a surprise sound it feels louder.