999 response - first drive with BHECCS

This is my first response for BHECCS, a charity response scheme providing enhanced care in collaboration with the ambulance service.
You can find out more about them here bheccs.org.uk/

[@andycampbell324]

Very educational on how I can help emergency vehicles coming up behind me, just stopping/slowing isn't always the right thing to do, wait until they have visibility and can easily get past. Its easy to panic and do the wrong thing, but videos like this allow you see what the emergency driver needs you to do. keep up the good work.

[@wavydavy9816]

Yes. My initial response to any blue lights or sirens behind me is to immediately speed away as fast as possible, but then I figure out it's probably not me that the ambulance is chasing so I can move aside and then follow them through the traffic if I'm quick 😂

[@feynthefallen]

Hey Chris, could you show us the technical setup of your car some time? All the lights, radio, and other special equipment it may have, and how you use them in your daily life? That would be great.

[@marksapollo]

He's done that before I think in other videos?

[@feynthefallen]

@@marksapollo Not the technical side of the car iirc. Also he has a shiny new car now😁

[@residentelect]

@@feynthefallen Agreed, would love a tour. The B6 R-Design PHEV he's using is an absolute beast. 300bhp, 0-60 in 6.6 seconds, and limited to 120mph (not bad at all for a set of wheels weighing in at almost two tonnes!) No wonder the cops in the UK and Scandinavian countries have always used V and S series for their Traffic and Road Crime units.

[@jaras1969]

@@davieee1168 I followed that channel too... Ambuchannel. It was always so skilful driving and the narration was spot on.. Kinda like Chris here. I´m not sure though, that is was cancelled due to what he was showing of the car, more like the bosses was afraid of what he MIGHT end up showing (in terms of privacy of the "customers") that they forced him to shut down. Sad really, because videos like these is both entertaining are educational.

[@Rummeltobi]

​@@davieee1168 Literally anyone can fake an emergency vehicle. You can get the equipment (graphics + lights) pretty much everywhere you want. The guy from the Netherlands - Ambuchannel - was forced to stop with this due to the EU's over-regulation and absolutely insane data protection laws. Fortunately the UK doesn't have to abide that EU nonsense anymore.

[@daylen577]

3:34 that was incredible. They even recognized at the end when it was safe enough to let you pass, and then slowed down before you even got going again. Massive props to that driver.

[@mikedinni6318]

To be honest it didn't need to get to that situation to start with. They were able to pull over from 3:05. That's 10 seconds worth of safe places to pull over. Yet chose to check their mirrors far too late and have to block him from being able to overtake for a considerable amount of time. Yes they realised he couldn't pass. But it never needed to get to that point.

[@WhiskeyGulf71]

@@mikedinni6318 Glad i’m not the only one to see that ! I sometimes think my expectations of other drivers is too high so i’m glad i’m not alone 😊

[@mikepembo8297]

@@mikedinni6318 Too busy texting on their phone or deeply focused on a phone call I bet.

[@ssrsuspension8247]

Only problem is that he is not allowed to overtake over double white line its not an exemption that can be claimed by the Ambulance service, unfortunately the Police will prosecute as happened to my crew mate up in the Midlands a few years back. Double white lines are very hard to negotiate when you are in traffic, turning your sirens off and holding back is best practice.

[@WhiskeyGulf71]

@@ssrsuspension8247 There was ample space to stop to allow the response car to pass before the double white lines. If you can’t drive then don’t drive, if you can’t watch the footage then don’t comment on it ffs !

[@pogump]

As a swede(not the vegetable) it’s nice to see you in a Volvo,be safe out driving😊

[@tridaks]

Except it's a Chinese Volvo 😉

[@alidavemason4417]

Love the way you keep a good distance from the vehicles in front going through the double white line sections, giving you plenty of forward vision & not pressurising the other drivers.

[@markopolo-1]

Found your videos, like most things on KZbin, purely by accident, clearly you're an incredibly skilled emergency responder but what's also great about your video's is the understanding it gives us all as mere drivers, what to look for, how best to acknowledge our intentions, and how to best help you proceed safely, I've been driving 30+ years myself and have learned a lot of valuable lessons by watching your videos and listening to your commentaries, thanks for the great videos and your invaluable service.

[@abhinandanthour]

Seeing the speed is something totally different 😍😍

[@ssrsuspension8247]

Its not fast though, just fluid and thats how we get trained and if you wish to leanr how to drive fluid like this then contact the institute of advanced motorists. You will notice the responder here never goes above 20mph over the posted limit, every county service has different regs.

[@MK-1973]

Fantastic drive Chris. Hope the new role is going well. Jeez that Volvo is quick!

[@residentelect]

300bhp PHEV, 0-60mph in 6.6 seconds and restricted to 120mph (unrestricted could easily cruise to 150+) Genuine understated "wolf in sheep's clothing", bit like the Skoda Octavia vRS Challenge Edition or Cupra Leon VZ300.

[@a20axf]

I love the new car, those Volvos are completely underrated. They also look really good liveried up. Great driving as always and good to see you back. Hope all is well with yourself Chris 😊

[@scottlewisparsons9551]

Thank you Chris for another great video. I got my license a while ago, 1967 in New Zealand. I still enjoy driving a lot. I find your videos instructional, especially when you have to drive along the English country roads. It’s great to see the high level of competency from the UK drivers. All the best from Sydney Australia 🇦🇺

[@r999t4]

This is a great drive, it had everything, wet,dry, town,country small microclimate area through the tree's and leaves on the rd, I drive fire engines and love watching these as we can all learn from videos like these.

[@mentonish]

These special driving skills only come from high level training, well done

[@artemkatelnytskyi]

What a beautiful vehicle. Thank you for your service.

[@cardoctor2k9]

Another great video, also great to see the recognition every time someone helps you out. It’s those bits of appreciation that go a long way.

[@caode9385]

I appreciate the people who would just drive straight up onto empty sidewalk to get out of the way. You gotta do what you gotta do

[@cliffordbuttle4529]

What about the driver who pull onto a green box and was fined for stoping on it to let a ambulance out 😅😅😅😅

[@avinashbhogun]

Ah your videos bring back memories of my time in Stevenage Old Towm!

[@tidysampler585]

I’ve been watching a number of your videos the last few months. Their very informative & educational with regards to driving on the UK roads on emergency travelling. It shows how drivers should react to your actions & safe driving. Great video’s 👍

[@ElliottRodgers]

Brilliant video! Thanks for all your efforts to save lives and share your adventures.

[@omardude39]

Highlight of this trip for me was BMW driver YZ05UZX! Well done to that driver for recognising when it is safer to yield and when it is better to proceed. A good responder and a reactive driver make good progress, that was a tricky section of road and the driver behaved admirably. Recognition is well-deserved as few public drivers respond in this way.

[@adz_b]

Thanks for sharing Chris, amazing skills & calmness (as always) thanks for doing what you do 👍👏🏻🇬🇧

[@bennymav81]

Nice to see you back Chris! Another great new video, lots to learn from this for us normal road users. Love the new car

[@v4nd3l39]

Just a quick Thank You if you was driving on Pixmore Ave in Letchworth yesterday as u let me come past the Parked Cars in my Mobile Car Park, aka Car Transporter after I Delivered to the Toyota in the Town.... Many Thanks again and keep up the Good Work and the Great Content

[@ChrisMartinEMS]

Ah ha...thanks and yes that was me. You're welcome. Besides.... head on you'd have def won 😁👍

[@rowanlidbury]

Another amazing drive. So nice to see people's awareness. You don't get that in London.! You're a lifesaver

[@robtolley]

Impressive Chris. Thank you for the service you provide ❤

[@ThePopz57]

Never get tired of watching your videos Chris, they show what and how you handle different situations, good driving from other Cars, awareness of when it was safe to allow you to pass on double whites, and you never push them to speed up, just hang back. Drive Safe, Stay Safe.

[@srowlands248]

Been missing your videos, great to see you back. I think it’s a great vantage point for (us) the average commuter to see how skilled you and your colleagues are and just how we can improve what, when and how we move to make your extremely important job easier and safer.

[@chrischeltenham]

Great video and a lovely new Volvo. I think the speed/direction indicator looks very smart.

[@jakewise8186]

superb driving ,your experience show's through and through. I loved the part where you silenced to reduce pressure on the vehicle in front ,and also as you say how they too recognized the safest choice. Great watch

[@pontyexpat]

Some good driving skills on show, I'd forgotten how much of a switchback is the road from Hitchen to Barton-le-Clay, let alone at those speeds. Well done! 👏🏻

[@kofcolrob]

Really good video as always! Was good to see how you dealt with the BMW and took the pressure off them until it was safe to pass. I've had a blue light vehicle (maybe unmarked police) literally a foot off the back of my motorbike before on solid whites despite anything I did to try and help them out so it's good to see how it should be done correctly by a professional.

[@fredwest2234]

Excellent drive as usual; using the car's performance effectively.

[@DGQ1Q2]

Nice Pull Push steering technique. glad to see it in action when you took the roundabouts. Brilliant.

[@David_Crayford]

Appreciate the patience shown on the narrow road, and these are not just short runs from an ambulance station to the next big junction, either. Stamina and concentration needed.

[@bridgetsalter265]

We have missed you on here Chris... Take care, old lady subber👍❤️ Thank-you for your dedication x

[@oOSpecialProskillsOo]

i love the little courtesy honks

[@markwarren9651]

Welcome back Chris. As always brilliant videos. Some good driving from the public in this episode. Volvo looks swift!

[@commonsense31]

Hey Chris congratulations on the new car! It looks amazing. I bet it drives superbly!

[@Jayfelms]

Hi Chris great to watch, I’m local to this area so know the roads well. That Hitchin to Barton route can be tricky on those roads, nailed it!

[@whimsical_ninja]

Lovely smooth drive. No mucking around although I wouldn't want to be much quicker on those roundabouts. I was taught to kill front blues on solid white lines but the spirit is there. The current Volvos are gorgeous to drive. I've had quite a bit of time in both a V90 and S60 and both are among my favourite cars to drive, handling is wonderful, your model seems to have a fair bit of grunt as well

[@Rummeltobi]

Nice Whelen light setup on that car! Love the graphics package! This looks so much better than the usual odd battenburgs.

[@James_cooper_89]

fantastic drive chris, thats a fair amount of distance you travel. im a para up in derby working the FRV and also soon to be MFR in my own car, very rare i get sent over 10 miles and thats being a limited lucas resource as well!

[@Monpjc]

Great video and even more enjoyable as its my route to work from Lethworth to Luton. Having video content like yours has been an insperation for me and this year acived my Rospa Gold on my BMW1200GS. I hope that others not only learn from your videos on what to do when the emergancy services approach but also learn to be better drivers and riders too. Great work and thank you for the work you do.

[@MatthewC23498z]

Indeed! XD

[@TheWanDatabase]

Congrats on your Rospa! Hoping to be starting my advanced rider qualifications as soon as I have the time to get my A2 done and dealt with.

[@cornishman93]

Really good to see you back Chris, excellent video once again! Thanks

[@lygase]

I've missed these videos, especially the 'live' analysis parts. Props to the BMW - got it spot on.

[@2spoons]

Great driving Chris and I have to say I love your Sat Nav..... straight over.... I hate hearing 2nd exit (when its quite obvious its straight over) 😅

[@aaronbates1993]

I really find these videos fascinating to watch

[@lukewalker3905]

The exported bitrate looks pretty poor, with all the leaves and fast moving footage it hurts my eyes a bit. If you could bump it up a bit that would be awesome. Haven’t noticed this issue in previous videos.

[@LakesRegionEmergencyPhoto]

Great video, great driving, and great car!

[@jimrichards3916]

I'm not a good passenger, but I'd trust you with my life mate. Brilliant driving.

[@alle_emergency]

Awesome video and very beautiful veichle

[@paulmarshall9549]

Fantastic drive well done keep up the good work, our hero

[@mortgagewizard40]

Another cracking video, I saw you on a Helicopter medics programme a couple of weeks ago as well.

[@stevewall3246]

Good to have you back, I must say I thought the driving from Joe Public was some of the better I have seen not a lot of panic slamming on of the breaks

[@dpke]

Do love the Volvo and also how these videos hilight the challange and danger of blue light runs!

[@johnclark9250]

Welcome back, I’ve missed your videos

[@Jens.M]

I would love to see that in 4k quality! And this car looks really nice.

[@pseud420]

Awesome video as always Chris, thank you! Traffic was on your side today, it's great to see. :)

[@streyyk5799]

8:07 thought that was an early overtake then you absolutely send it. Good stuff.

[@chrispop99]

Great to see your videos again!

[@stuarthtodd]

Always a joy to watch your videos. As someone said, it's easy I'm sure to panic and make mistakes when a blue light is behind you, or on roads which are narrow and double-lined but your videos really do illustrate how best (and not so much...) to help you get to where you need to - even if it does mean just driving normally and taking an opportunity to let you past without further upset!

[@Midlandstransporthub]

Good to see you back Chris

[@AirbusBeau]

I love watching you go down the streets I go through all of the time. And to you go to Letchworth sometimes.

[@davidbowen60]

Thanks for putting the speed up on screen 👍

[@mattyn870]

Nice to see Chris is Volunteering

[@Focusonbehind]

Awesome drive

[@stephencox1955]

Great stuff again Chris.

[@coover65]

What a great demonstration of priority driving. Our laws in Australia prohibit anybody other than an ambulance service responding to provide pre-hospital medicine, and we don't have the ambulance shortages like the UK appears to have.

[@jonlawrance8383]

Hi Chris, discovered your videos recently and they're really interesting! I can see you're always trying different things so I thought perhaps a suggestion would be to display indicator animations (literally just flash arrow images left or right on and off) when you're coming up to complicated junctions or roundabouts so we can see which way you're intending to go. Thought it might add to the interest. Thanks for posting

[@C.CUMM1NGS]

Another great vid teh speedo is a great addition always nice to see the speed.

[@PouLS]

Unfortunetly it's only in mi/h so you have to convert it to have an idea of how fast it is.

[@sirmickofnottingham8244]

Most of the other drivers did a good job!

[@solferuto4]

Nice to see you are back

[@ottawaemergencyresponses]

Blows my mind that some people don't even attempt to give way.

[@K3V0M]

Great to see a new upload! I like seeing the different interaction on those narrow roads with bad visibility, hence the double white lines. But is your video quality worse? Even the text in the lower third in the beginning is pixelated and I am definitely on 1080p.

[@tgrey2555]

The BMW did do well driving on the double white line section where you overtook!!!!

[@marcusFZ6]

Nice driving as ever Chris. How do you find the big Volvo?? Standard of fellow motorists in this video was pretty damn good. Wasn't really any holds or tricky situations.

[@ChrisMartinEMS]

Agreed, made for a very easy run given how considerate everyone was. Thanks for the comments.

[@ChrisMartinEMS]

Ps, the Volvo is very nice to drive😀

[@TonyWhitley]

Yes I have reassessed my view of how many brain-dead idiots there are sitting in the driver's seat of most cars (you can't say they are driving the cars) - these people were actually *aware* of what was going on around them!

[@zerocool278]

Great driving but you were poor with the enterprise van situation, thanks for your service and all you do.

[@naviatior5713]

nice car, love the livery.

[@hoggif]

Speedometer is a great addition!

[@paulmeynell8866]

Nice driving . Did notice the white car that didn’t think it needed to pull over and cost you a little time!

[@adamgoode216]

what a coincidence ive been watching your videos for a while know and it was a question ive had for months now when are you going to do a shift with BHECCS now here we are.....love your content

[@omega19uk]

Another good one Chris... the Volvo V60...hope it's the T6..nice to know how it compares to your last VRS...

[@moto3463]

I wish the UK used red and blue lights like we do over here in Australia, I believe the visibility is much better instead of just blue flashing lights, I could be wrong but that's from my own eyes!

[@Orcaben1]

Great video, would be nice if we could see more of the journey like starting off and arriving on scene.

[@tormid100]

OMG My heart was in my mouth.

[@quackoramic]

Love the speedometer! I do believe that it could be a tad smaller myself. Amazing content you make!

[@nearestyoutube]

Size is fine

[@flyingbananatree5661]

Roadworks / temporary light set-ups must be a real challenge!

[@marksapollo]

Oof dual carriageway crash, nasty. Had to travel a bit to get there though. Great skills as always.

[@Mike_5]

Nice responsible drive in the twin turbo Swede showing how it is done safely Chris (Do they fit rumblers?)

[@nickthorley1]

Great to have you back. I have a few questions - first is the peeping - is there a code to tell if you are making someone aware Vs saying thanks Vs maybe aggressive what are you doing - single peeps, double peeps, multiple peeps. The other is with regard to the turning off the sirens on double lines - I understand not to pressure people when there is nothing they can do but are your blue lights still on or do you turn them off too?

[@greigs9384]

Hitchin to Bartons a nightmare road. All of the bushes and verges are littered with bits from collisions. I cycled it regularly in the late 90s. I’m guessing it’s probably worse now.

[@neilburns8869]

One of the most hazardous problems when driving at this time of year is obviously just how low The Sun is in the sky. Blinding. This is when sun visors come into a League of their own. Although I think perhaps early January can be the worst, sometimes you are lucky if you can see the silhouette of a stationary vehicle.

[@fourlamb1]

This is very interesting. I'm doing my blue light course and A to B run soon for my Police training so it's good to see.

[@fastman05]

Take a look at Chris Gilbert 999 for commentary driving. Good luck with your blue light course.

[@fourlamb1]

@@fastman05 Thanks mate, I'll check him out.

[@Mr_Jimbo]

Not sure if this has ever been covered before, or indeed how feasible/difficult it would be to achieve, but a video about the best things we as drivers can do to make emergency vehicle's journeys easier would be amazing - like the two examples you mentioned here about no overtaking opportunity might not be obvious at first.

[@domroe5396]

I'm happy to stand corrected, but I believe the unsuitable spot for overtaking refers to the double solid white lines and blind corners. If I remember correctly, even response drivers aren't supposed to cross a double solid. In this circumstance, the best practice as a general motorist is to keep going until a suitable place for a pass is found and then slow and make space for the EMS.

[@hannesivert9873]

Omg chris, you sir, you are my idol

[@winchester12gauge76]

Mr M, not only are you to be forever admired for what you do, your driving skills are quite enviable. Some of your videos however appear to show drive times beyond what would be considered 'reasonable' in an emergency. Is this because you're the closest = minimal regional EMS = NHS cutbacks? I fully understand that your ability to answer honestly on a public platform may be restricted ;o) Regardless, THANK YOU for what you do.

[@DeBert]

Very nice to see, thanks for sharing! I just really don't understand the use of shortest-toned siren. You can see people being more surprised (e.g. 2:40) when that one is used, compared to quicker actions to the middle speed siren. There must be a reason why we don't have that one in the Netherlands...

[@JackFowlesJF]

Hi Chris, great video. Are you with BHECCS full time or is the NHS still your main job?

[@meddylad]

Hi Chris....great video. Love the car and the driving. Can I ask what Sat Nav you use?

[@elestromusicgamesfun1101]

This Swedish nurse approves this car 👍👍

[@Adam2050]

That cars so much smoother then the Skoda.