New Guidance on Emergency Medical Services Use of Lights and Siren

The use of emergency vehicles’ lights and siren does not save clinically significant amounts of time, and it is associated with an increase in ambulance crashes.

These revelations are included in a January 2024 National EMS Quality Alliance (NEMSQA) report detailing the results, lessons learned and change strategies developed during the Lights and Siren Collaborative project. The focus of the Lights and Siren Collaborative is to reduce injuries, fatalities and property damage caused by emergency medical services (EMS) vehicle collisions.

The report, “Improving Safety in EMS: Reducing the Use of Lights and Siren,” provides guidance on:

• Modifying response and transport processes.
• Interpreting regulations relevant to the use of lights and siren.
• Modifying EMS agency contracts as needed.
• Making a persuasive case to EMS clinicians and to the community for reducing lights and siren use.

The report also includes case studies highlighting results from 4 out of the 50 EMS agencies that implemented improvements focused on NEMSQA’s quality measures related to use of lights and siren.