BMW To The Rescue

A friend sent me an e-mailed article from the Associated Press that appeared on MSNBC News regarding Miami-Dade County fire-rescue workers using modified BMW motorcycles to improve their response time so that they could beat the fire trucks through heavy traffic and begin treatment of victims sooner.  

European and Asian countries already use motorcycles as do some smaller U.S. cities, but this is thought to be the first time a major U.S. city has tried motorcycles to respond to emergency calls.   So far, response times have improved by three to four minutes, which obviously could be crucial minutes, by slicing through heavy traffic congestion quicker than other emergency response vehicles could ever hope to.  

BMW donated the 10 motorcycles for a one-year pilot program which cost $170,000.   The modified bikes each have three compartments to carry all the emergency equipment and two bikes together can carry all the basic life support supplies of a typical emergency response vehicle with the exception of a backboard.

The Miami-Dade Fire Department trained 10 firefighters for the program, but four others found it so intriguing that they paid their own way for an 80-hour, $1300 motorcycle training course.   Miami-Dade also uses the motorcycles to patrol each day, during busy periods when accidents often occur.  

Besides being useful in areas with heavy traffic, motorcycles can be helpful in areas closer to home like Nantucket , MA where they have been in use since 1993 as motor-medics use them to maneuver on the islands narrow streets, especially in the summer when those streets are clogged with all of the island’s summer guests.

Hopefully, you’ll never be in a position to need but, who knows, maybe someday you’ll dial 911 and the first responders will be riding Beemers.