ADDED TO YOUR JOB DISCRIPTION:

[spenac]

That quote of mine was in relation if he actually told you where the bomb was and it was real. Would you be willing to risk your life to move it.

Sorry I didn't want to push the opinions one way or another on this. I am just curious what everyones opinion is. So far two against. Anyone else?

If we are already checking him in the vehicle with the bomb we might as well kiss our butts goodbye so why not try and move it away from the building. If we're in the ambulance when he tells us this not much we can do. By the time you run back to his truck get it started boom, bye bye, game over. So if in ambulance call it in while hauling butt away, while you call it in. Make it very clear how little time left so more don't get killed running to try and stop it. This would suck and if you live you would have the what if's for the rest of your life.

[timboyle]

I had a call where it wasn't a terrorist. It was a husband who went crazy and shot his wife. I was having a smoke out front of the station at 11pm and heard this lady calling for help across the street. It was too dark to see what happened. I went (ran) over and she told me her husband shot her in the pelvis. He was inside the house coming out. So I threw her (all 250lbs) on my back and ran her into the station bay and called the PD for backup. She was critical for 2 days but survived.

Sometimes we risk our safety and don't initially know it. But that's part of the risk as 911 responders.

Oh, and all the PD units were refueling at the time for shift change. Perfect timing.

[AnthonyM83]

You could move the truck that's about it. Then the question becomes how far are you willing to go to save others?

In this case it would be a personal citizen-responsibility situation. It would also fall under immediate extenuating circumstances. Do what you'd do if off-duty. In today's whacked legal system, you might end up paying for it, but oh well.

[Richard B the EMT]

A comment on the McVey/Murrah Building Truck Bomb scenario:

Presuming I was of the mind to move the truck to somewhere else, Where would I move it to? Putting my NYC mind-set to the question, puts at least 3 things up for consideration,

1) Where would I take the vehicle to, to let it blow up without loss of life,

2) Could such area be quickly secured and evacuated, to allow the bomb to blow up without loss of life,

and

3) With the regular traffic jams in big metropolitan areas like NYC, Chicago, L.A. and insert the large community of your choice, how the hell would one get the bomb vehicle thru the traffic to get it to the impromptu bomb disposal "range"? We have already established the local PD is not on the scene to assist in traffic control, and a mad truck driver gets even less respect than an ambulance running lights and siren. Plus, when you bang up a fender on the truck, it ain't just going to be the fender that gets a bang.

[Dustdevil]

Good point, especially in a downtown scenario like OKC.

And consider this; you run for your life, let the truck blow up where it is, and McVeigh is responsible for those deaths. But if you race that truck to the edge of downtown real quick before it blows, then the deaths of the [albeit lesser amount of] people it kills is now on your hands. That's a tough one to live with. In fact, I suspect you'd end up pulling a Robert O'Donnell within two years.