New York State Basic Emergency Medical Technician (EMT-B) Practice Exam

Under NYS Vehicle and Traffic law, when are emergency vehicles allowed to use lights and sirens?

1. Transporting a stable patient to emergency room

2. Transporting a patient in full cardiac arrest

3. Proceeding through a red light with due caution

4. Responding to a non-life-threatening call

The correct answer is: Proceeding through a red light with due caution

Emergency vehicles are permitted to use lights and sirens primarily to alert other drivers and pedestrians of their presence and to facilitate a swift response to emergencies. The use of lights and sirens indicates that the emergency vehicle is responding to an emergency situation and needs the right of way to navigate through traffic safely. When responding to emergencies, the law provides certain privileges, one of which includes the ability to proceed through a red light with due caution. This means that when an emergency vehicle encounters a red light while answering a call, the driver is allowed to proceed through it after ensuring that it is safe to do so. This lawful leverage is essential during critical situations where time is of the essence, such as in life-threatening medical emergencies or when firefighters or police are responding quickly to incidents requiring immediate attention. In contrast, using lights and sirens when transporting a stable patient to an emergency room or during a non-life-threatening call would not typically warrant these signals, as there is no urgent requirement for rapid transit. Additionally, when transporting a patient in full cardiac arrest, while it is certainly a critical situation, the focus is typically on the medical intervention rather than the driving protocols governed by traffic laws. In such cases, emergency vehicles would still be expected to obey traffic signals for the