New technology gives green light to Manatee County EMS: 'Important to save lives'

BRADENTON, Fla. - Nearly 1,500 calls per day come into the Manatee County dispatch center. As EMS makes their way to the hospital, sometimes traffic sets them back.

"Anything we can do to help deliver patients to hospitals faster means we can save more lives," said Clarke Davis, Deputy Director of Traffic Management for Manatee County Public Works.

Davis said EMS will be able to get to the hospital faster with a project called Emergency Vehicle Preemption.

"The first thing that triggers it is lights and sirens on and that sends a signal to the controlling software. That sets the wheels in motion. It then starts communicating to the traffic signals that are ahead of it along its current path," said Davis.

The technology is being utilized at two dozen intersections throughout Manatee County, including Bradenton and Palmetto -- routes which lead to Manatee Memorial Hospital.

Eight ambulances and two supervisor vehicles have been outfitted with the technology.

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"In this case, what we are doing is turning the lights green ahead of the ambulance so all of the cars will flush out ahead of them. So, done correctly, it’ll create more openings and less potential for, say, secondary crashes or something like that to arise," said Davis.

With the technology, Manatee County EMS estimates it can save 11 seconds at each intersection, which can add up.

"Getting to the hospital that much faster is just important to save lives. It’s all about timely treatment. If a few extra seconds make the difference between a more severe injury and even death, then hopefully this will help make sure that doesn’t happen," said Clarke.

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