American Reacts to Amazing Police Escort for Ambulance in Netherlands
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- čas přidán 4. 01. 2023
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As a former emergency physician (who get out on calls in Germany) working close to the Dutch border, I had the experience (and pleasure) of Netherland's police to escort our ambulance rides (the closest trauma center to our county is in the Netherlands in Groningen). They always would stop us for a short time and ask :"how bad is it?" and "how fast can you go?". Then the 2 officers in different vehicles would start to escort us. One clearing the crossroads and one we had to follow. ❤
As a fellow German who had the pleasure of being at the other end of the ambulance, I was also really glad to see them weaving through traffic and clearing intersections for us
and on the other hand, I'm in austria, vienna... I can see that we would benefit of a similar system. I live quite close to a hospital, and today (actually yesterday), I've seen an ambulance trying to go through an intersection while read. sure, the other drivers did the sane thing and did not enter the intersection (which is literally 50m away from my home) and let the ambulance pass. but at least one motorcycle that gives advance hints that there is an emergency vehicle would be a great addition.
@@hubertseidl1074 don't be mistaken about one key thing, the police escort is not used in every situation, only when ambulance has very serious injury on board and they can't risk slowing down or stopping. If patient isn't in critical condition police escort isn't used.
I love this type of co-operation. Up here in Finland, Sweden and Norway we have something similar if I got you right. Emergency services working across the borders. HEMS picking up patients from another country etc. Finland and Sweden has also an agreement that our police forces can cross the border in some cases. If a chase starts in Sweden police can chase and enter Finland and vice versa.
@@formatique_arschloch German and Dutch police have a similar agreement. Once, a guy driving like a lunatic tried to flee from the Netherlands to Germany - were German police was already waiting. Together, they sacked that guy.
Btw: Funny username!!
The main reason for a police escort of an ambulance is to provide a smooth ride for the patient, without sudden braking. Speed is also important, but not as important. The balance depends on the condition of the patient. The camera biker is 1 of 2 front runners who clear intersections and wait for the ambulance to arrive there. There's also a 3rd biker immediately in front of the ambulance. And yes, those front runners go crazy fast.
@Michael Collins But with an escort they mostly can hold the speed without much braking or turning. And comfort in this regard can be health relevant.
They do take great pride in their speed as well though. In my own escort at the end you heard them saying something along the lines of "Hebben we toch die heli weer ingehaald jongens" or for the english speakers here that roughly translates to "We've beaten the helo yet again boys!". Also they had a tram slam the brakes for me which all things considered was probably the one cool thing in a very bad situation. Those trams don't even stop for the minster-president so when your escort get them to slam the brakes that does feel a little special :p All in hindsight of course, I wasn't concious for 3 more days after so I never noticed the inside of that ambulance as it was happening and were it not for the video I'd have never gotten that part of my life back.
sometimes they dont have the 3rd biker
@@reznovvazileski3193 they wil even make other emergency vehicles stop in these escorted transports. It dosnt matter who is there, he wil be forced to stop as these guys get first priority everywhere.
@@gabbermaikel Yea I was told as much. They go as far as when two emergency escorts have to come in through a place at the same time they'll radio ahead to the other escort to figure out way ahead of the conflict which patient has the shorter lifespan if they don't arrive pronto and base prio off that. Accute cardiac arrest for that matter is pretty high on the list of people with short life spans if something isn't done right freaking now so quite possibly other emergency escorts would've even been diverted as well.
4:28 this is actually on purpose! The narrow streets make it feel like you're going way faster, so people refrain from speeding in cities naturally. It's great design. (Also cars are generally smaller in Europe, but whenever you see a RAM or something, it fits)
its also because those roads orignally weren't really meant for cars (most coincide with centuries ago)
@saio_mori
Untrue. You've seen how wide the streets are, they could easily fit wide multi lane roads but they don't. The roads are narrow and single lane on purpose
@@ozn2323 I’ve seen how wide they are, yes. I also studied Dutch history in school. I know what I’m talking about.
@@saio_mori what you're saying holds truth for the many narrow streets, not wide streets with narrow roads. Have a look at what those same wide streets looked like in the 60s 70s, you'll find a lot more asphalt
@@saio_mori This is indeed the case in old city centers, being centuries old. More modern, suburban infrastructure is purposely designed to reduce speeding
What wasn't mentioned before, the bike-team is a specialised squad called 'VTB' or 'verkeerstechnisch begeleiden', litterally meaning to guide through traffic. To become a VTB-police officer you have to be a bike-officer first and then follow three to four weeks of education. It usually consists of three or four key officers, you have two front-runners (could also be more but mostly two), the commander (the one driving in front of the ambulance or VIP or whatever) and a closing driver. The closing driver isn't always there, it all depends on how large the escort is. The front runners close off intersections, make space for the escort to pass and scout routes, they alle communicate with the commander. The commander is the only one to communicate with the escorted vehicle using just hand signals. The closing driver comes last and just follows, giving the 'all clear' signs to traffic on closed intersections indicating that the escort has passed and the situation can return to normal. The escort could be more police bikes but those are probably driving around the escorted vehicle, if it's a VIP for example. The commander will always drive in front of the escort-group on the right side.
VTB can be used for all sorts of things, from escorting ambulances to VIP's to supporter busses of football clubs to whatever else and as mentioned before, these escorts have the ultimate priority, they cannot and will not stop, if they have to drive on the sidewalk to keep moving they will if it can be done safely. These escorts have a higher priority over regular first responders as well.
About the lighting on the first responders vehicles: in the Netherlands it's blue and it is actually illegal for other vehicles to use blue lights so that way it is very clear that first responders are coming. All vehicles that may have blue lights also have a certain striping-pattern, called 'OOV-striping'. This pattern also includes the base-colour of a vehicle. The striping is also protected by law, I can't just add the striping to my car for example. Nationwide the same striping is used so this way first responders can also be recognized very easy, no matter if it's a truck, a car, a van or even a bicycle or boat. First responders also include the safety region and EOD for example. The system is brilliant and it really helps. I can see the blue lights reflecting of stuff miles away, especially on the highways during the night so it's very hard to miss. During the day it's a bit different but still quite noticeable.
In addition, like in most countries, there are also vehicles that are unmarked bur have build in lights. Also various navigation systems in cars will warn if first responders are closing in on their vehicle and ask them to make way.
Nou wat een mond vol! Lol but i think he's very happy with all of this information! You did good sir.
Fijne dag greetings from the Netherlands
I recently was passed by a van of Prorail, also with blue lights on, never realized these vans could also be first responders. The more you know. Thanks for your insights!
@@BoTraK DOT (RDW) nowadays also have prio lighting and sirens. So when there's an accident on the highway, they can get there faster. Their juridiction might be increased in the near future for other situations on the highway
EOD is explosive ordinance removal. They clear out unexploded bomd etc. left from WW2. They can use blue lights but i don't know if they are equipped with siren.
A recent development is that general traffic assistance can use blue lights and siren to get to the place of an accident or other emergency. These vehicles are bright yellow with black stripes.
These motorcycle cops have had expert training in non-verbal communication. Once I was standing at a red light when one passed me doing 80km/h with inches to spare. He turned round while standing on his bike (still going forward ) and looked straight into my eyes and pointed to a place i should go. It only took half a second, but it was impossible to have any misconceptions. I needed to move over there, NOW!!! Moments later the full escort of 10 bikes and a cop-touring-bus blasted by through the hole I just created.
Probably the Royal family on their way....
@@corjp Not nessecarily, it's more likely a prisoner transport. (It could be a vip transport though)
sorry, but tourbusses are not used for prisson transports, there is the local judicional transport for.... simple vans with enforced doors and windows... Guided tourbusses...... Royal club they travell in groups by tourbus( tourcoach) or in limo's....
@@corjp could also be a ambulance bus, they used them during covid to transport a group of IC patients from 1 hospital to another instead of doing it 1 patient at a time. The bus could hold i think 7 or 11 patients at once with all their stuff needed and full medical staff. But since they where still IC patients they dont want to have them on that bus any longer then needed so i could see there being an escort for that.
@@corjp Who said anything about prison transport?
(edit: sorry, not reading the entire conversation)
Cop-tourbus is a bus full of cops not prisoners.
I love how you completely fumbled pronouncing “Verkeerspolitie” but then follow it up with a near perfect gutteral G in “Den Haag”
Somebody not saying the hague brings joy to my heart.
How remarkably irrelevant and uninteresting.
@@David-nq4qi yet relevant and interesting enough to comment on lol. Its just fun that outlanders say things right its fun for them and us. Just to appreciate each other
@@magma1lord Amsterdam de beste!
@@amosamwig8394 True, true.
For the people who were wondering about the person who fell in the begin of the escort.
The police motorcyclist informed the ops centre about it and the confirmed that another first responder would go there so the escort could continue without having to worry about that person.
This escort is mainly used for life/death situations/big accidents, critical patient transportation from 1 hospital to the other one and organ transport.
Just so you guys know
I wouldn't want to be on the ground bleeding while police and paramedics just drive around me lol.
Of course, that's how important escorts like these are
@@wessltov That is why the cop on the bike informed the police car as well and they were going to the victim on the ground while another ambulance was called to that location. It sucks for that person, but you can't leave the one waiting you were going to already, especially if you don't know how the situation is for the person on the ground, could be a simple fainting while the other has a heart attack.
Yeah there are some sort of GPS and digital transmission to the traffic lights in some sort! But not at all lights! Most in high trafficareas! In German also
My girlfriend is a first responder in the Hague and she told me that if an empty ambulance comes across another scene of emergency, they have to stop to provide first aid, even if they are already responding to an emergency call. Another vehicle will be called to respond to the initial call instead.
Of course, this was an emergency escort which means these ambulances were already transporting patients, so they wouldn’t be able to stop to provide first aid in this situation, but it’s interesting to know!
@@JorGaming these are planned transports, usually transports between hospitals, so there already patients in the ambulance.
I’m Dutch and the communication is very interesting for me. At every intersection they tell each other “right lane for straight ahead” or sometimes even “left lane for a turn to the right”. They always choose the lane with the least amount of cars no matter what direction the lane is supposed to go. Very interesting to see and hear the coordination!
If you want to know more about Dutch roads i'd highly recommend Notjustbikes. He makes really interesting and fun videos about the subject in the differences between American and Dutch infrastructure.
100% agreed! His channel is lovely
yes
Yes can only agree!
Inspiring channel, he chooses his words wisely. Seems like a gentle soul.
@@MrCow579 And funny, Jason always puts something comical in his video's.
Love to the Netherlands from Berlin! Great people, beautiful country!
Vielen Dank! Deutschland ist auch sehr schön und auch mit sehr netten Leuten.
Thank you!
Danke schon ! :)
Same for Germany love from Utrecht.
And I love Berlin, great city. Greetings from the Netherlands.
my dad used to work on the motor ambulance in the Netherlands. the helmets are made in a way that you can still hear all the noice around you because that’s important obviously. but he trained with the police because they didn’t have the motors at the ambulance back then. so he was learning and they went into a shopping center and up the escalator, and people were cussing them out because they thought they wouldn’t be able to hear
@9:58 Here in Belgium as well as in the Netherlands the rule of law states that police, firetrucks, ambulances and any other vehicle you can think of has ABSOLUTE right of way, even over trams and such, BUT only when they have both sirene AND blue lights on. These signals make them "priority vehicles". Other vehicles can be escort vehicles for high level people (gov, royal, state visitor, ...)
Not completely true, They have always have the benefit of exception, they can go on side walks, into shopping centers. can drive through red lights even without lights and sirens. The car is the exception, not the light or audio.
@@botchubby2776 These vehicles cannot pass red lights under any circumstance short of an emergency, and they *Will* be held accountable when they do so without blaring sirens and flashing lights. Just blasting onto a crossroad without any sort of warning causes catastrophic crashes.
@@CaptainDCap That's actually not true. Police officers have a general waiver that allows them to break traffic rules *as long as it is done safely* and only while they're on duty, even when not responding to an emergency. Police officers are absolutely allowed to cross a red light or enter a cycling path without sirens and lights but only if they can do so safely and responsibly. Turning on sirens and lights simply makes them a priority vehicle, and makes it so that other drivers have to actually give way to them. Without the sirens and lights it's not required to give way to a police, ambulance or fire fighting vehicle.
First responders *do* need to be responding to a PRIO 1 or PRIO 2 emergency to be allowed to use sirens and lights, but even then there are situations where police might opt to leave the sirens off, if they expect a suspect to run away if they hear the sirens e.g. when responding to a robbery.
@CaptainDCap that is not true, like the person above already explained. Here are the traffic laws that an officer in the netherlands can break, from the official website of the dutxh police. First in dutch and then i'll translate it in english.
Van welke verkeersregels mag de politie afwijken?
doorrijden bij een rood verkeerslicht;
rijden over de vluchtstrook;
rijden op plaatsen waar anderen dit niet mogen zoals een trambaan, busbaan en stoep;
inhalen over een doorgetrokken streep;
parkeren of stilstaan waar dit voor anderen verboden is.
Daarnaast zijn er voorwaarden aan de vrijstelling verbonden:
de verkeersveiligheid mag niet in gevaar komen;
het gebruik van de vrijstelling is gezien de situatie noodzakelijk.;
And now in english:
Which traffic rules are the police allowed to deviate from?
continue at a red traffic light;
driving on the hard shoulder;
driving in places where others are not allowed to do so, such as a tram track, bus lane and sidewalk;
overtaking on a solid line;
parking or standing still where this is prohibited for others.
In addition, there are conditions attached to the exemption:
road safety must not be jeopardized;
the use of the exemption is necessary given the situation;
I am a technician for trafficlights here in The Netherlands and the company i work for has traffic lights in The Hague (Den Haag). We have 3 times of systems that will provide priority for emergency services. But in The Hague mostly a system called KAR (Korte Afstand Radio) Short Range Radio in english is used. The KAR transponder in the vehicle will send a message to the KAR-modem in the TLC (traffic light controller). Ofcourse the message contains certain data wich the TLC needs, but this is basicly how this works.
Interesting, thank you!
Same thing here in Germany
10:24 Not all traffic lights in the Netherlands are equipped with emergency priority systems. Mostly close to hospitals, emergency service stations and main response routes.
Edit: These systems only prioritizes the direction the emergency vehicle is coming from. Generally there is no added warning stating an emergency vehicle is approaching. Some municipality's added this for the first intersections next to a emergency service station.
In bigger cities, you can really tell when a bus enters, so i can't imagine that they wouldnt implement that with emergency vehicles.
Important note is, that even tho not all traffic lights have this feature, the emergency vehicles can always ride on red so it's not *as* needed
Pretty much the same in Germany. Around firehouses they usually have it.
@@czechgop7631 But it would be safer.
@@sanderboers586 It depends if there is a separate bus lane. If there is a bus lane the intersection mostly react on detection loops. If there is no bus lane the intersection is equipped with the system and will prioritize the emergency vehicle.
Hi, Dutchie here. Really cool seeing you reacting to such footage. As we live very closely together in the Netherlands as one of the most compact countries in the world, for decades (or even longer) we tend to organize everything (!). This kind of mindset - I admit - can sometimes be tiring as well. But for us - packed in a country that can feel like an ant colony from time to time, we continuously adapt to our changing (and growing) cities. The police escorting the medics in narrow streets and busy traffic is a great example of us organizing in detail. Very nice of you picking this up and making this video. Thank you for this!
10:07 emergency vehicles here in the Netherlands get to drive through red but only with the sirens on with the sirens off they just partake in the normal all day traffic. Everyone here in the Netherlands know that if you hear a siren everyone has to stop even if it’s green light for you, but if you can’t make room if you’re in front of the emergency vehicle you have to speed up and than move out of the way as soon as you can.
Uh no. Police is still allowed to jump red lights with lights only in cases of suspected caught-in-the-act-burglaries, where the siren would alert the perps too early. And speeding up in front of an emergency vehicle if you have nowhere to go: the TV program 'Blik op de Weg' covered responding to emergency vehicles a couple of times and they always said NOT to speed up. People usually start to drive more dangerous as they are not used to the higher speed, increasing the risk of causing an accident.
Riding motorbikes for more than 40 years compared to these police motorbike riders I still feel like I am a beginner. Their riding skills are humbling me. Deep respect to them.
I think that is because we learn to ride a bike before we go to preschool.
@@ThorinJ The UK is slowly catching on to the benefits of training them young.
The police bikers have a different extra driving course focused on safety and communication but this level of driving how most of us here in The Netherlands can and learn to drive. We have to participate and pass one theoretical and two practical exams
Infrastructure is one thing the Dutch rightfully can be proud of. Not just dedicated lanes, dedicated paths. Cycling from Groningen to Rotterdam from time to time, about 160 miles, most of the time I only share a protected path (separated from the road for motor vehicles) and the only things you share that path with are pedestrians, cyclists, moped riders and the occasional horseback rider in the rural areas. Only times I have to deal with motorized traffic is when I have to cross the road to continue my journey on another separated path.
its takes 7/8 hours to ride to Rotterdam?
Depending on how fast you’re going and from which part of the country you’re coming from, i’d say.. roughly. Yes.
@@ghost4ever657 i meant on a bike trip he mentioned. 160 miles?
@@AnalogDude_ a trained cyclist can do 25 to 30 km (30 kph is +/- 20 mph) per hour on a regular bike. But training isn't the only factor ... for example those speed cyclists you see racing in road races can do upto 60 kph for an extended time. And nowadays there's bikes with electric pedal-aid. if seen those do 55 kph ( 35-ish ) easaly sitting up.
@@dawnmaster68 Yep, i get clock on these "moveable traffic signs that counties place along roads to remind people" at 22/23km/h doing relaxed, but i wouldn't ride for 160 miles, in this region it can take you up to 2 hours doing 30km, up & down roads.
Hey there,
I actually live 20 minutes away from this area in the Netherlands.
This shopping area the motorcycle crosses is actually a car-free area normally.
Just wanted to mention about the person on the floor, what they say is “er ligt een man op de grond” which translates to “theres a man/person on the floor” and the mention it to their coordinator to send another unit there (as they later find a police car themselves).
About the sensors in the lights, as far as I know, no sensors, when you hear the sirenes you start looking at where he is, if that bike is in front of you you keep eye contact and follow instructions haha.
Seeing these people cross cities every now and then is indeed really fascinating how skillfull and coordinated they are.
Have a nice day.
@MWMTaal there are actually Sensors that react to a radio signal the responding vehicles give out and put all signals on Red with the exception of where the Emergancy Vehicle is comeing from. Not all have them but the important ones do. Its the same in Germany
As a dutch person I love you're reaction to this about my country :)
The chatter that you hear on the radio is all about communication in between the frontrunners and the leader of the convoi. The frontrunners point out wich lane the ambulance has to use at intersections and if needed they also mention bumps, speedbumps, bad road conditions ect. It's truly amazing to see how smooth these guys operate and at such high speeds.
to add: the chatter also mentioned the person on the ground that another ambulance/emergency vehicle was either already coming or still had to be made aware...
@@kop-uv2dx they told them to send another one and later he stopped and told another police car that he should go there and he did.
Its short and clear no unnessesary chatter straight to the point so everyone knows what is going on in time.
One thing to point out and is seen but not understood is that the frontrunners will do just that. They will stay in front of the vehicle(s) all the time. The moment the escort commander and the ambulances drive onto the intersection the frontrunner will leave. A motorcycle or patrol car behind the escorted vehicles will signal to free the intersection for the other traffic. What you see in some other countries where there are motorcycles speeding around the escorted vehicle to get in front will never happen in the Dutch system. The Escort (VTB) Group of the The Hague Traffic Police is known to be one of the best in the Netherlands. Part of that is because of their extended workload because of the Dutch Parliament and other Diplomatic Services that are in the city.
What people might forget is that the priority of this escort is to transfer the patient as smoothly as possible. That's why they clear out intersections and the route in front of them so the ambulance doesnt have to hit it's breaks too hard/often. It's not always about getting there the quickest.
I actually held my breath because we also have a lot of stupid people here in the Netherlands. A clip went viral recently where a guy in a car kept blocking the Ambulance on the highway. And yes, he did that on purpose, even drove in the emergency lane in front of the Ambulance.
That driver didn't like the results of that stupidity, too many traffic violations on camera with witnesses perfectly willing to testify.
This channel is so unique, there are thousands of reaction channels but you are one of the only ones who notices the little things like the infrastructure differences & actually asks & interacts about them. Love that.
The channel is actually "Traffic Police The Hague" and they upload videos like this once in a while.
The lady on the ground was seen, and they radioed for someone to come help her. Then when they saw the police car, they asked them to go check on her.
Some lights have sensors for emergency vehicles, or even for public transport. I believe police/ambulances have transponders that will trigger both those sensors.
But they are usually only installed in areas near hospitals (for emergency vehicles that is) or near a firestation.
Since you like this kind of stuff, you'll probably like the videos from "Brandweer Lunteren", also Dutch. It's a volunteer fire company that documents a LOT, all the way from getting the call while being at work, biking to the firehouse, driving to the scene, everything on scene, and even the ride back. Obviously, that does make the videos a bit slow, but they're always full of surprises. A great thing for you: they provide subtitles.
Some of the interesting videos:
- Forest Fire, nov 19, 2022. Not a lot of action, but a lot of trucks.
- Double accident, oct 22, 2022. Two highway accidents.
- Scalding fire, sept 23, 2022. A very interesting video about a smoldering fire, but obviously way too long to react on.
- Big fire, mar 12, 2022. As the title says, a big fire, but especially interesting to see one of the guys at work running out as he gets called in. Also a lot of interesting things to see, but again too long probably.
Have fun!
PS. I can provide links, but I'm not sure YT comments would allow those.
I second that! Those are nice videos!
As they say, _yoink._
The channel of the video is the from the traffic police in The Hague, which is one of the largest cities in the Netherlands. I find these fascinating and it's also interesting to see your reaction. What happens near the start of the video is that, as they already are en route escorting the ambulances through downtown The Hague, towards the hospital, they notice a person lying on the pavement and they call this in via their radio. Moments later, at 2:41, when the rider meets up with the patrol car, he tells his colleagues that somebody is lying on the ground and asks them to go there, to attend to that incident. So there basically are two incidents in this video.
We have great infrastructure in this country. Not only roads but also underground like natural gas pipes, power lines, fiber optics for high speed internet etc even in the most rural areas. When on vacation abroad we usually realize how good we have it organized at home but take it for granted. Dutch are pretty disciplined: even if your traffic light is green you have to wait if a police officer instructs you to do so, cause every second counts. Nice video, thanks!
You are right, particularly as far as your infrastructure is concerned. I am German, from a place close to the Dutch border. Each time I am in the Netherlands I see the difference; your roads are next level.
Don't know about lately but years ago I felt that respect for our police was higher in The Netherlands than it is in the UK.
It is cool how the bikes kind of 'leapfrog' between intersections. Super efficient. Awesome
That’s actually exactly what they are doing.
One of my daughters had a collapsed lung and had to be transferred from one hospital to another in Denmark by ambulance - about 20 miles. I rode shotgun in the ambulance with an emergency doctor vehicle in front. The experience of seeing traffic part in front of us like Moses at the Red Sea and the very skilled driver trusting it to happen was unnerving, but it felt good to see people in traffic respond to my daughter's needs in her time of distress the way they did.
Another time I was driving on my daily commute past Schiphol, a motorcycle officer from the Marechaussee zoomed across 3 lanes of traffic and within inches of the front of my car while looking me straight in the eyes and holding up his hand. Within seconds, a motorcade carrying who knows who sped along the centre of the motorway with a full escort. Clearly, there was no messing with these guys.
Marechaussee is more like the war unit of the police. In comparison to them, the police is cute😂
@@TomMRiddle96 not totaly true mareshaussee is the dutch military police. basicaly meaning they are part of the department of defence and have jurisitiction over all militart personel regarding police activeties.
@4:35 yes, we have narrow roads. Mainly because the houses along the road were built long before cars and trucks were there, but also a lot of times they are purposely this narrow, to keep the speed levels down, for safety reasons.
Btw the person on the ground was not what they were going to, but they did send another car there, which you can see is the police car we were talking to a little bit later.
Usually these kinds of transport are used to transport a patient from one hospital to the other,because they can get better, specialised help there. Usually it's someone really fighting for their lives in the ambulance, a case where EVERY second counts. Its often used for when a baby is born in a regular hospital but needs specialised help in a different hospital, or a child or something. In this case I see 2 ambulances which could mean in one is a very sick child and in the other are it's parents.
Hey man, after all these "American reacts to Europe" videos you really have to pay Europe a visit! You are always so intrigued and curios when it comes to landscapes, architecture, roads and such so it would be fascinating if you somehow could make a "real life" "American reacts to..."!
Those two lead bikes 'leap frogging' like that was an awesome piece of coordination.
I'm sure someone mentioned it already, but to be allowed to have a drivers license we all go through a thorough test, both theoretical and in practice. We have to take lessons with certified instructors. So everyone is supposed to know the rules when it comes to emergency situations!🍀
Even kids get that taught to them in school. Most kids get lessons on traffic regulations and one of the first things they learn is to get out of the way of emergency vehicles and always follow the police-instructions.
@@gerrit9519 absolutely true! Traffic exams are part of our educational system👍
@@gerrit9519 And of course that is whyö Dutch kids are allowed to ride their bikes without their parents, which always seems to amaze Americans
@@funwithmyswedishdogs , no helmets either. :)
dont they have theory exames in other countries?!?!?
Because there are two ambulances in the convoy, it is most likely someone suffering with heart problems. (Cardiac arrest etc.) In the Netherlands they usually send out two ambulances to situations that involve heart problems so the teams can work in relay on stuff like chest expressions and adminstaring shocks
they'll send two ambulances to the spot, but when the patient gets transferred, only one is neccesary - I doubt the other one wouldn't just go back to start
I am a biker and have lived there for 12 years, those officers are some of the most skilled riders I have ever seen!
This isn't just done for speed, but also for comfort for the patient. It wasn't the case here, but in some of their videos, they have to communicate every bump or tram rails in the road to make sure the patient can stay stable. And they also make sure the ambulance can maintain the same speed, so the ambulance does not have to brake. I believe they respond to comments as well, so you can always ask
I live in that city (The Hague). This must be a very special transport. Normally they wouldn't escort an ambulance like this. Also, they drove by another (big) hospital half way, so this must be an exceptional convoy, maybe an organ transplant operation (but two ambulances??). Interesting. By the way: We are very used to encounter fast moving convoys like this one in The Hague, but usually there is some VIP in there. The Hague is the residence of our government, our King, nearly all embassies, Europol headquarters and all international courts. Although it isn't the biggest Dutch city (and NOT our capital), it has the biggest police force of the Netherlands. So they practice this trick a lot... The training and selection of these motorbike cops is one of the toughest you can get. Not only do they have very advanced driving skills, but they are masters in (non-verbal) communication and they have amazing situational awareness. Nice to see it from their perspective.
Maybe the chidren's hospital?
Second ambulance is for when the first encounters problems, I believe. Probably organ transplant with haste, like the heart
The narrow roads are actually one of the reasons why the accident/fatal accident rate is so low in the netherlands. Having things in your peripheral and next to you while driving makes it easier to keep track of how fast you're going, and makes it easier to judge distances.
Or so I've heard. I'm not a traffic scientist, lol. But it's very interesting to learn about. NotJustBikes does a lot of interesting videos about traffic and living in the netherlands. I've learnt a lot about my own country from his content, lol.
Considering the levels of skill you mention; keep in mind that courses on these matters are *way* more thorough in the Netherlands (all of W-Europe actually) than in the USA. That goes for your drivers licence but more even for the police over here.
A basic education for a police officer is college level and takes over two years, then there are additional sources to become a motorcycle rider, and once you've added enough experience with that skill you can apply for extra courses to become an escort team member.
Yes in Europe you have sensors for emergencies. Some of them switch everything on red except in the durection where the emergency vehicle is coming
10:04 Yes, a large part of the traffic lights are equipped with Priodeck, a system that is adjusted via navigation in such a way that the road is empty and has a green light when an emergency service uses it on the way to the final destination.
in the Netherlands a lot of people use a app that tells you where the speed camera’s are but the same app also tells you if there is an emergency vehicle close to you and tell you how many meters away from you so you know that something is coming before you here the sirens
This could've been a practice or training run, judging by the fact that we have third person view and that everything was recorded.
The encounter with the fallen pedestrian may have been an actual chance event (and they did send someone there).
At 9:57 that intersection you pause on... I live in a side street about 100m to the right. It's near the hospital they are driving to, the Haga Ziekenhuis, former Leyenburg. How fun to see my hometown on your channel! Also, our former queen Beatrix used to live on the other side of the city, and I used to live there also in the past. I've seen several escorts like these from the side as she was escorted somewhere, in a couple of big black cars with royal flags and AA on the plates. Always spectacular to see when I was younger.
Too bad there were no subtitles btw, but the officers are shouting instructions and directions to each other.
I live in Delft, a city between the Hague and Rotterdam, and these escorts happen quite often, usually when there's a critical injury and time is of the essence. Ambulances also get escorted from the Hague to Rotterdam sometimes as well (since the 2 cities are only around 10mi apart). You can also see ambulance helicopters flying from the Hague to Rotterdam and vice versa multiple times a day. The emergency vehicles can use tram tracks, roads, paths, and whatever means they have to get through safely and quickly, and you're right, you'd never see anyone driving on those tram tracks normally (unless of course the tram tracks are designed to be driven on but in this case the road for cars was off to the sides).
Loved this video! It's fascinating to me watching an outsider talk about my country, and getting some knowledge about American ambulances in return. 😊 keep it up!
fun fact, there's actually a specific cadence to the ambulance siren in the Netherlands. Police, firefighters, and ambulance have different sirens. A fire truck siren is pretty easy to recognize, as it's the most unique, while police and ambulance sirens sound pretty similar, with one key difference. Every fourth note in the ambulance siren is ever so slightly off-key, mostly so your brain will pick it out as bothersome and thus important
According to the German traffic code (the Netherlands must have a pretty similar one) drivers of emergency vehicles may proceed over red lights with caution. I guess in large cities with bigger intersections there is a similar technique used with recognising emergency vehicles. Not with radar like you mentioned, but with a specific flash pattern, that these vehicles produce forward facing. The crossing traffic lights will switch to red giving the way the emergency vehicle is driving a green light.
But European drivers are also used to having to stop for blue lights and sirens, respectively giving way.
If I understand these videos from the traffic police in Den Haag correctly, that is a special way of transporting patients to special hospitals, trauma centers etc., where said patients are stable enough to be transported, but with minimum stress. So the blocking of the intersections provides for a smooth ride without too much acceleration or braking.
We use short-distance radio in most cases, the infrared flashing sensors would probably suffer pollution to much to quickly in order to respond reliably. The hospitals don't need to be special or a trauma center, it can literally be where their own doctor (very much aware of their possible special situation or condition) is at that moment, or where the best care for people can be given to them.
While the part about a gliding, smooth transport is true for the most part, it also allows for the possibility that someone can have some form of surgery performed on them while being transported, which will also benefit from a smooth ride for the people standing up.
Hey Ian, first of all, Happy new year man. Secondly thanks for doing this video, I discovered these guys a few months ago and I watch these vids with glee. I'm a Dutchman living in Scotland so I may be qualified to give some insight, although people have said various things in the earlier comments. The "VerkeersPolitie Den Haag" are traffic police in the city of The Hague, not the countries capital but it is it's seat of goverment and also where the King lives. These men are experts in escorting Foreign Leaders , dignataries etc. but also emergency vehicles. The bikes they use are BMW K 1600 GT powered by a 6 cylender 1.6 litre engine. In the video at 2:20 the person lying on the ground is reported to dispatch and a squad car is asked to go and investigate, he was not the reason for the emergency transport. The radio chatter is constant communication, at junctions the rider that stops will inform the rest of the motorcade to "turn left for straight on" indication the left turn lane is clear and continue straight on. Hope this helps mate. Keep the videos coming mate.
Love the Verkeerspolitie Den Haag videos. Seeing them block a street to see a helicopter land was awesome. As always, gratitude to any emergency responder peoples
The bikes in this video are definitely no K1600 GT as they have boxer engines. Depending on how old they are, they are R 1200 RT-P or R 1250 RT-P (and yes, the P is for Police edition)
Yes, we have sensors that respond to emergency vehicles being nearby while they're driving in code, sadly enough many of our emergency response vehicles like to abuse it and just drive code through lights while there aren't emergencies going on.
And if you know anything about the police (I'm not sure about ambulance and fire department vehicles) you know they do not have to respond to all emergencies with lights and sirens. Break-ins or robberies are sometimes responded to by police without lights and sirens, to prevent the possibility of the criminals being alerted early and leaving the site before police arrives.
They have this possibility in the so called "RVV" by being able to depart from a lot of those rules and ignore red lights, road markings, maximum speeds, while also being capable of rescinding all current rules, lights and road markings for other people and requiring other road users to follow their instructions.
I personally have rarely seen ambulance and fire department drivers doing what you suggest they do, but all the times I've heard a police car rev up towards and intersection in a 30km/h street without lights and sirens, more often than not, they drove up much quicker than normal, only to hear their siren seconds later...And if you know anything about the police (I'm not sure about ambulance and fire department vehicles) you know they do not have to respond to all emergencies with lights and sirens. Break-ins or robberies are sometimes responded to by police without lights and sirens, to prevent the possibility of the criminals being alerted early and leaving the site before police arrives.
They have this possibility in the so called "RVV" by being able to depart from a lot of those rules and ignore red lights, road markings, maximum speeds, while also being capable of rescinding all current rules, lights and road markings for other people and requiring other road users to follow their instructions.
I personally have rarely seen ambulance and fire department drivers doing what you suggest they do, but all the times I've heard a police car rev up towards and intersection in a 30km/h street without lights and sirens, more often than not, they drove up much quicker than normal, only to hear their siren seconds later...
With ambulances you also need to take into account that someone might be in the back who was doing fine at first but close to the hospital starts getting worse and in order to not raise the stress levels at car users might not use their siren for the short bit, or, if they queued up at a traffic light normally first.
The times I've seen an ambulance passing on the emergency lane on the highway however without lights and sirens, tended to be done when a traffic jam happened in a weird spot, or on a weird time, and they go up ahead to check if there is someone in need of assistance who might not yet have called it in.
(I will add that my view on the emergency services is slightly tinted because an ambulance crew saved my life 2 times when I was very young, so I always take into account that there generally will be a very good reason for doing something out of the ordinary).
@@Dutch3DMaster My mom used to be a police officer, i wanted to become a first responder on an ambulance before things happened and i couldn't.
I have a great deal of respect for emergency staff, but that does not give them the right to bend the law or not adhere to the RVV you like to point out.
I live in Capelle aan den Ijssel, between the hospital and the highway, theres 2 police stations near me, i live at a choke point, whenever they are on break they'll go to the KFC or the macdonalds to get food, to get there quickly they'll use their siren to get past the lights, you'll litterally see them drive up to the lights, turn their lights and sirens on, go through the lights, turn them off and drive across the metro to get onto the highway.
We complain about it, than the local government will slap them on the wrist, they won't do it for a couple of months until they start doing it again.
As for police and the RVV, there's situations where what you said does not hold true.
As for bias, there's nothing wrong with a little bias, but don't let it cloud your judgment, they're human like you and should adhere to the same rules, it's kind of like when the police ask to see your ID, they're allowed to ask for it, but they're not allowed to hold it or see it, unless you've comited a crime or they have reasonable suspision that you've commited one or are in the process of commiting one.
That would be called duty to wear and duty to show, one is for the fact that you need to carry one by law, the other is a forced ID check.
The situations i am referring too are not done under priority but simply because they can and want too, and you can't really blame them, i know from my mom that she often went to get food only to be called to a scene and not being able to eat, but once more, they're held to a higher standard for a reason and therefor shouldn't be exempt from common laws.
Greatings to the Netherlands, one of our great neighbours in the West. ❤
the goal of these escorts for ambulances is speed obviously, but an even bigger priority is to give the ambulance a smooth ride without breaking an accelerating so treatment can already start in the ambulance.
This made me think of once when emergency services were close to me, but I never noticed. I was a teacher at a school and sat in my classroom with my back to the door. When it was time for a coffee break, I noticed that the door behind me was closed. It was almost always open. Turns out that a pupil on a computer in the corridor, about 6 feet from me had some heart problem and an ambulance was called. So the EMT calmly closed the door to not get an audience. I noticed nothing. The pupil was fine and back in school just a few days later.
I live in the Netherlands and have seen this multiple times. Those guys are really skilled. They constantly overtake each other, and switch lead at every intersection.
I love that rythm of waiting at every other intersection to allow them to clear their mind for a moment so that they don't just get into a tunnel vision sort of thing and are less prone to mistakes.
9:55 not all intersections are equipped with this priority system yet, every time an intersection gets overhauled/modernized, this system will get built into it. Most intersections along main traffic routes and close to hospitals/stations :)
Here in Germany, they do have "remote controls" for traffic lights in many cities. For quite some years already. Just lately I heard there is a debate going on about the need to modernize the systems, because its pretty easy to hack into them and mess around with the lights. But its a money issue, like always.
The hacking really isn't that big of a problem tho. You will find traffic lights with unencrypted RF controls all around the world.
While you can temporarily switch a lane to green, you can't arbitrarily controll the lights of an intersection. If you "hack" a lane to go green, the rest will go red.
@@sporqist Well, there are people who get their kicks from the strangest things. May be not many have had the idea yet. But you could cause some chaos, perhaps by switching one direction to grenn permanently, respectivly the other direction to red. By sending the signal continuosly, while standing on a corner and watch. And it could interfere with a real emergency vehicle using the system.
The translation of what they say when they drive past someone on the ground is: “I just saw someone on the ground. Make sure to drive around them. And central can you call in a colleague for that incident?”. Then he asks the police car to break from their convoy and check out the people on the ground. Cool stuff and awesome you make content around this :)
I love this series, keep at it :)
I absolutely love these videos by the The Hague Traffic Police. That coordination and leap frog technique is so cool to watch. They are constantly communicating what lane to take and where to go. To answer your question about influencing the traffic lights: Emergency vehicles have short wave radio transponders (just like public transport, by the way). This system can influence the traffic lights on more and more locations, also the ones for the bus/tram lanes. It can also be used to lower automatic bollards, so they can take a shortcut that regular cars would not be able to use. The system is called KAR, which stands for Korte Afstands Radio (short wave radio).
Isn't that "short distance radio" ? And with a much higher frequency than Short Wave, actually UHF ?
2:31 The policeman on the motorbike reported the accident (with the person laying on the ground) to the command room. They responded saying they'll send a unit (Most likely an ambulance)
4:50 Fun fact, I'm from The Netherlands and I've lived in Den haag for a few years and I used to go to school VERY close to where this cop is driving, literally only 1 km away so it's nostalgic to see it back for such importance.
10:50 Most traffic lights in The Netherlands have a system where they turn red when an emergency services vehicle with sirens/blue lights turned on comes near. The vehicles emit a signal which is detected by the traffic lights, there are also devices available that you can buy which indicate if an emergency services vehicle is approaching, they use the same technology. As far as I know, a lot of European countries have this system as well and use the same technology so emergency services vehicles from other countries will trigger the traffic lights in all of those countries as well.
Hey Ian! The Blue light build up on the Ambulance is called 'Delfis'. Customized Sprinters with higher roof and powerfull blue front lights so you can't miss it in your mirrors.
And terrible cost to replace, when (not if) some ambulance driver hits the too low parts of the hospital porch :D
Looks like the Bikes froggy leap to clean streets and intersections. Really well done.
Dutch ambulances (perhaps all, I don't know) have a very specific siren that can be heard really well when it's coming towards you and it sounds really different when it's going away from you. So if you hear one, you are on alert and ready to stop what you're doing or move TF out of the way so that it can pummel through the narrow streets here
All sirens over the world has that! Nothing specific, it's called the doppler effect🤣😂 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doppler_effect
Very interesting to see and hear a American giving his view on our emergency responders and also a bit in general on our infrastructure, thx!
There are traffic lights in the Netherlands that automatically turn red in every direction but the direction an emergency vehicle comes from. It definetly is not yet fully build into every traffic light. On a side note, Not Just Bikes does have an explanation about the advanced traffic lights we have in the Netherlands (czcams.com/video/knbVWXzL4-4/video.html & czcams.com/video/7KPGVP85WpU/video.html , great explanations of how the traffic lights work here). We wait a lot less at traffic lights .
Bus drivers have a remote control for the traffic lights, but that's just to be on time and they still have to wait for the light to turn green for them. With emergency vehicles and emergency speeds it's probably much more complicated.
They dont have it in Tilburg yet and they test all the new road techniques there.
@@Rhyz-1 czcams.com/video/DDsAqC1PtI4/video.html . "Using an app when an emergency vehicle has to go to an emergency, the app will continuously communicate with a cloudservice that can change trafficlights (if it is build-in) to give the vehicle priority and thus safer and faster way to arrive at their destination." Pretty neat system if it would be able to cleanly get such vehicles through traffic more safely and faster. However, it obviously needs tinkering to more complicated traffic cases.
Hey, really cool that your intersections have a dedicated light for "stop for emergency vehicle". I think we do have the sensors, but no way to let the other traffic know why they're gonna have a red light for so long. That seems very useful. 🙂
On the other hand I'm surprised they have so few lights at the exits of fire-stations and such in the USA, where we usually put lights up that stop traffic when emergency vehicles turn out.
@@weeardguy That's also a good feature indeed :)
I respect you for trying your best on on the channel name, the pronounciation was better than many other attempts I've heard
A lot of roads in the Netherlands are purposely narrow. Narrower roads tend to give a driver the sensation of driver faster which in turn forces most people to slow down.
Fun fact I am dutch and live in the netherlands, you mentioned that the roads are very small and narrow, this is done on purpose, because if roads are wider we figured that people will drive faster and so a lot of the roads between towns are just as narrow as in the cities to prevent speeding and thus accidents
ofcourse in side cities like Amsterder or in this video Den hague the city was very dense before cars where around so the roads are smal due to the city being so compact
thought you would like this fun fact :)
Coordination between all the different motorcycles is amazing to see. Also where the two lanes got to one lane there was already an officer holding the car
The first radio chatter was the officer asking, for a seperate car not in the convoi to go help the person that was lying down on the street, the car you see moments later isn't part of the convoi. Ot was the car they asked for.
Some traffic lights can be controlled by emergency services, but not all. The Dutch are educated on how to handle these type of situations already in kindergarten. When we see flashing lights and sirens we move of the road if possible and we make room at junctions. We also don't pull away when the light becomes green. Not until the emergency services have past. It's all about manners. 😉
Usually this is used when you need to move patients quicly from hospital to other hospital so hospital orders the escort
So weird seeing somewhere I bike by almost daily in one of your video's keep it up!
Once in Warsaw I was in a escort lane with other 16 buses lets say and police on bikes did this to us and I was really impressed how quickly they managed to clear each and whole intersection across whole town just to let us pass very quickly.
I know traffic lights can be influenced and it is often used for public transport to allow busses or trams to proceed without stopping. For me it is often annoying as I live near the train station in 's Hertogenbosch (don't even try to pronounce that 😂) across from the main hospital and on the street where many schools are located, so many busses pass where I'm living. You get to know the sequencing of the traffic lights, but often when I think i will get a green, other traffic flows start moving and I know yet another damn bus is approaching the crossing.
As the systems to influence traffic lights are already installed for public transport, I suspect that emergency vehicles have that option installed too..... Hell.... this is the Netherlands where they even use rain detectors to give priority to bicycles.
So the person you saw laying on the ground, they requested another vehicle for. It wasn't the emergency that they were responding to.
Edit: regarding the traffic lights, please watch a video by Not Just Bikes, titled: why the Dutch wait less at traffic lights
He already did that
czcams.com/video/lhVI-XUPvkQ/video.html
He's seen it :)
there is or was a reciever in the junctionboxes that picks up a signal from emergence vehicles and gives that direction priority. possibly not everywhere but the busier places do or did, or so i was told by a guy who works on those boxes
05:50 the lightbars are designed to reduce the wind resistance so they save up to 1 liter per 100 kilometer of diesel in comparison to the normal light bars.
Your pronunciation of “Den Haag” at 1:02 was actually pretty solid! I’m impressed!
If you are interested in dutch road design, I suggest reacting to "The Best Country in the World for Drivers", from the channel "Not Just Bikes"!
Infrastructure design is really very good here, I currently have three cars and with good weather I'm going the 8 km to work by bicycle because it is so enjoyable. No traffic jams, no fuel bill and free exercise. It's so great to have a choice.
Great how you give your vision about our work in the Netherlands. If you are ever here in Holland/the Neteherlands give a call and we can give you an inside tour of the dutch ambulance system! You're welcome
do you know what happend to ambuchannel? you sound like a ambulance pro :)
@@lsdpjotr No sorry I don't know...and yes i've got one of the greatest jobs as a paramedic in the Netherlands.
Really cool to hear from you what your thoughts are about the emergency teams and the traffic etc in the Netherlands. Also, yes the emergency vehicles have sensors that react to the stopping signs.
Here in Czech Republic, some firefighter units have a device to make intersections usually in the city where they are based, to turn to "all-way-stop", meaning before they get close to the intersection, all traffic lights turn red and they know they can safely pass through without slowing down much, as the intersection is free and everyone stopped.
Yes in the Netherlands the traffic lights also have sensors for emergency vehicles, but at these speeds, i guess the traffic lights can't change color fast enough 😅
9:55 I live in the Netherlands and I think I can answer your question. The short answer is no. I'm pretty sure we don't have a system where the emergency services control the traffic lights automatically or otherwise. Ofcourse the emergency services are allowed to pass a redlight and as you can see most people on the road are very cooperative to the services and get out of the way or bring their vehichle to a stop.
My green turned red within seconds of an ambulance approaching. Pretty sure that ain't faulty wiring.
@Carlocodh I stand corrected 😊
I work on an ambulance, we do actually have such a system. It gives us green light faster than all other traffic. Its called KAR (korte afstand radio) which sends a signal to the traffic lights. It doesn't work on all intersections though. Very big intersections are usually excluded because the light turns red to fast for people to get across safely.
Hi Ian @IWrocker, thanks for paying attention to the wonderful work of the VTB Den Haag. If you want to know more about specific things you can post your question on their channel, they usually are more than happy to answer (providing they’re not too busy of course :)
the man in amulance was having a cardiac arrest and recieved cpr in ambulance with two ambulance nurses. (1 ambulance drives empty to hospital)
5:55 We actually do use these ambulances in Dubai but they are trying to get rid of them because the American style the boxy ambulances is mostly preferred here. The Mercedes ones could be used for rural areas or small towns.
It's funny, when I lived in Deventer, a local hospital actually had American chevy van ambulances and you could hear the v8 roaring along with the siren's. I always thought that was very cool. Also in the rural parts of the Netherlands where I live now it's not uncommon to see people driving those enormous gas guzzling classic's like LTDs, Mustangs, Trans-Ams, Firebirds, Camaros, El Caminos, Fleetwoods, El Dorados and sometimes even a perfect replica of the General Lee. (But only when the weather is nice because people don't want their precious babies to rust :P)
If it's bad weather they go out in five cilinder turbocharged Volvo estates.
What they were saying around 2:34 was (partially paraphrased): "There's someone on the ground here!" - "Yeah, I see it! There's someone on the ground here! I'll ask for another ambulance!" And at 2:49, when they met up with the police car, they said: "There's someone on the ground there! Are you going there?" [Literal translation. The intended meaning is more like: "Go there, please!"]
So on their way to the emergency they were called to, they noticed a different emergency and immediately made sure that that would also be taken care of.
Usually, these escorts happen from a scene to a hospital because someone is severely injured and immediate care is needed. Escorts also happen for IC patients that require specialization from other hospitals and are transported for this reason. Other options are airlifting someone when specialized care is needed in a further away hospital but this usually only happens from a scene to a hospital instead of hospital to hospital, since this can be planned ahead.
Trafic lights do indeed tend to automaticly turn red when there is an emergencyvehicle passing by.
Verkeerslichten gaan inderdaad op rood wanneer er een noodvoertuig langs rijd.
GREAT Video by The Hague Traffic Police dept.! - - The ride ends at the E.R. of the HAGA Hospital.
The Hague is the Netherland's Only " Big " City (metro area > 1M people) that does NOT Have a University Hospital. The Hague instead has two of the country's biggest and best General hospitals.
I don't know whether we have sendors in the traffic lights for emergency vehicles, but I don't think so, because one of the most "commonly known things" about emergency vehicles is that "they are allowed to run a red light if they have the lights and sirens on"
You actually pronounced that channel name pretty well for an American!
And we don't have an emergency mode on our traffic lights, I also don't know what that is but it sounds really nice!
We have this system with traffic lights. Also for city transport. So that the buses, for example, can keep to their schedules.