Oklahoma to debut new ambulance siren you can feel

By sweetsam
in Back Page News

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sweetsam

Posted
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TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- You're in the car and you've got the radio cranked up insanely loud. Chances are, you're not going to hear that ambulance siren wailing behind you.

Soon, even if you can't hear it, you'll be able to feel when an emergency vehicle is coming.

Oklahoma's largest ambulance company will become the first ambulance service in the nation to outfit its entire fleet with new Howler sirens, designed to emit low-frequency tones that penetrate objects within 200 feet - such as cars - to alert drivers.

The Emergency Medical Services Authority has equipped one ambulance with the new siren and plans to have them installed on all 77 units in Oklahoma within six months.

Officials say the sirens are ideal for cutting through a sea of traffic, and give emergency responders another tool to let drivers know an ambulance is heading their way.

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Rising Star

Zilos

Posted
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Still won't work for those of us with the woofers pumpin lol, but I usually notice emergency vehicles anyways, since im usually paying attention to the traffic a ways ahead and behind me.

Grand Master

+BeLGaRaTh Subscriber¹

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So what if you live in the 200ft radius, you would have to wait until the vehicle has moved 400ft before it subsides, not good :( I wouldn't want to be harassed by this at all if I was sitting peacefully at home browsing Pr0 .. erm Neowin.

Grand Master

NienorGT

Posted
Posted

It's like a big sub...

And it's supposed to be very directive, the low frequency waves aren't going in all way, just in the front.

What's it like for the people in the ambulance? :p
http://www.swps.com/whelen-howler.html
Built-in timer limits overexposure time to operator. Operators are advised to wear approved hearing protection.
I doubt it's gonna be silent for them :p
Grand Master

Nagisan

Posted
Posted
Many people listen to their CDs or iPods while driving.

In California, you can't drive with headphones on per Vehicle Code section 27400:

A person operating a motor vehicle or bicycle may not wear a headset covering, or earplus in, both ears. The doesn't apply to emergency vehicles, a person engaged in construction equipment for highway maintenance, a garbage collector, noise attenuators, or prosthetic devices to help the hard of hearing.

May hold true for other states, but in CA, there is NO reason you wouldnt be able to hear an emergency vehicle unless your driving illegally by covering both ears.

Mentor

Mr. Black

Posted
Posted

This actually isn't new technology, Federal Signal (one of the Siren makers) has a product named Rumbler that does the same thing.

I was behind a Fire department SUV here in AZ with one of those, and you can feel it. It certainly gets your attention.

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