Whether you suddenly faint in the street, are in a vehicular crash or get shot, you’d like to think that an ambulance and emergency medical technicians would rush to your aid. They do, but it’s also a fact that if you’ve been shot they may have to wait before rushing in to help you. Why? Because police have to deem the area safe enough for the EMTs to work before allowing them in. Of course it makes sense. If the gunman is still in the area he may shoot EMTs as a means of delaying needed aid to his original victim. It’s something that happens in other jurisdictions. “Our main thing is safety first,” said EMT Charles Maynard. “The scene has to be cleared as safe, as our safety comes first. We cannot help if we become injured ourselves.”Emotions and tempers are typically elevated at crime scenes and Mr Maynard said people at the scene of local shootings often impede their ability to efficiently aid the victim.“The crowd gets hostile when we are on the scene,” he said at a public lecture given in May.This is often because the crowd feels EMTs have not come fast enough. They do not understand that the scene must first be declared safe enough for them to work. But there appear to be some who know this. They bring the injured party to the EMTs.“We’ve had people drive in to us and drop them off in our lap,” he said. “Once we attended a call on Court Street. We thought there was one victim. When we got there someone brought him to us, but then people kept coming. In all we had four that time.”While EMTs are not encouraging the public to drop off gunshot victims at KEMH, they believe public awareness on how they attend crime scenes can reduce the hostile confrontations they experience from crowds.Mr Maynard said: “If the patient is alive, we want to keep them alive. Our priority is to take them to a safe place where we can take their vitals and let Emergency know we are bringing them in.”