American Reacts to French Police Escort Belgian ambulance in PARIS - Children's Hospital

[@Tiisiphone]

My heart sank while watching this video. Belgium has excellent hospitals, if this poor kid had to go to Necker Hospital in France (golden standard for pediatric care in Europe), it means his condition was super serious. The fact he couldn't be evacuated by an air ambulance means he needs heavy life-supporting equipment not available in an helicopter. Poor kid was on the brink of death. I hope these officers gave him the precious minutes that could make the difference between life and death. I hope this kid made it.

[@TheAlja]

Thanks for the explanation, i was wondering why they used a car instead of a helicopter.

[@micade2518]

Where did you get that info from?

[@Tiisiphone]

@@micade2518 Hailing from Belgium, Europe. When it comes to medical expertise: one of my aunts is a retired MRI/radiology tech. She worked at Hospital Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France for 8 years. Gustave Roussy is specialised in cancer treatment and works in close collaboration with Necker Hospital's paediatric oncology units. It is quite common for a patient to be transferred from Necker to Gustave Roussy or the other way around depending on the type of cancer and treatment needed. That's how I know about the excellent reputation of Necker Paediatric Hospital (including many other fields than cancer) As for medicalized transport, one of my friends' husband is a Belgian Red Cross Medic working as a volunteer with the Fire Brigade and Emergency Medical service (SIAMU: fire brigade & emergency evacuation services).

[@bramdeclercq6188]

​@@micade2518 not sure where he from he got it .. but it sounds very logical and i love logic so yeah i'm not questioning the guy or gal .. necker is indeed leading in pediatric care in europe and the fact that he isn't airlifted could be many reasons .. maybe this child needed more staff that could fit the helo .. or indeed needed life support that could not fit in the helicopter .. makes sense otherwise they won't drive 314km if not needed ... the medics , doctors are smart people so if the helo option was avaible they woulda gone for that option .. but like i said it all comes to logic sense

[@micade2518]

@@bramdeclercq6188 I was being sarcastic towards someone who provides so many (unwanted) "facts" and suppositions ... It reminds me of the far too many clones of Louis Pasteur who sprung up when the C-19 was in full swing, and gave their piece of advice whilst all the (real) scientists of the world were frantically searching the solution (and, the origins of the disease!). It gets on my nerves! TRUST THE PROFESSIONALS FOR DOING THEIR JOBS and if the medical team had deemed it necessary or better for the patient to have him transferred by ambulance to Paris, they must have had good reasons for deciding so with all the pros and cons duly examined beforehand.

[@Roark3675]

One of my kids had to be transported to Necker when she was 11 months old. Very similar situation in heavy traffic with police escort though replace the ambulance with a fire brigade truck. I'm super grateful that so many people helped and did their best to save my little girl. And yes, she's fine. She's now 10 , and she cannot wait to enroll next year as a jeune sapeur pompier (youth fire brigade - minimum enrollment age is 11) to help others.

[@Lpisa]

Hi! French biker here (not a professionnal one but had almost the same training as police bikers for other purposes), some toughts on this: - Since you talked about SAMU: SAMU is french medical emergency responders, they always come with at least an MD and a nurse. Usually in France if you need first responders for something medical you call them (15) or a number that will forward your call (112) and if you need and ambulance they will send the firefighters, if you need a doctor they will send a team from the SAMU. For instance, I had a bike accident it was the firefighters that took me to the hospital not the SAMU (because I was only lightly injured). - The traffic is actually not that bad for Paris "périphérique", it's far from rush hour the highway is pretty low traffic on the video. Yeah, in french cities (especially Paris) traffic jams are horrible even in the middle of the afternoon for instance. - On the ramp, the bikers went to the traffic lights to make way because they saw the ambulance would never pass, so they block all the other lanes and make people pass the red lights - The cars with the red on top are taxis. The ambulance was on a bus lane (wrong way) to go faster, the cops made all the taxis stop so the ambulance could come through (taxis are allowed to take bus lanes) - In the end, the discussion between the ambulance and the bikers was "Which service do you need to go? "ER" "It's in the back, follow me" + a maintenance guy on the right said stuff too but nothing revelant In France, health system and first responders are very different than the one you have in the US. Paris and Lyon's SAMU are even able to do surgery on the streets in case of a cardiac arrest (there are some videos on youtube about it - including one where they revived someone almost an hour after his cardiac arrest thanks to the firefighters doing CPR the whole time)

[@barberousse3429]

Commentaire très pertinent. Pour nos cousins ricain.

[@chastronaute1212]

Une bonne traduction et analyse était nécessaire 👍

[@nicozen836]

Merci..super intervention En Thaïlande lorsque une ambulance veut passer c'est juste n'importe quoi.... presque personne ne fait d'effort... hallucinant 😢

[@dmzzz35]

J'aurais pas dis mieux 🤌

[@ioni2285]

Pour ton accident de moto, la gravité de tes blessures n'ont rien à voir avec le choix de l'équipe envoyée, les accident de la voie publique (AVP) sont du ressort exclusifs des pompiers, pour des raisons évidentes : - c'est les seuls à posséder du matériel de désincarcération - à cause du carburant, il y a un risque de feu. Aussi le SMUR (Service Médical Urgence et Réanimation, l'équipe mobile du SAMU) ne se déplace que sur les cas les plus graves type arrêt cardio-respiratoire. Si la gravité estimée lors de l'appel est moindre l'équipe envoyée peut être : - des pompiers - des ambulanciers privés, via le système de la Grande Préfectorale par lequel les entreprises de transport sanitaires mettent à tour de rôle des équipes à disposition du SAMU.

[@nickdelabalme7220]

I am Parisian: The cars with red lights on the roof are just taxis, the red light indicates that they are busy, and the light appears bigger because of the poor quality of the image at that moment (due to paving stones of the road, historic site obliges). At the entrance to the hospital, the two gendarmes asked which department of the hospital, and the paramedic replied "emergencies", There was an additional difficulty for this escort, in France, police, gendarmerie and firefighter sirens are two-tone ("Pinnn-Ponn-Pinnnn-Ponn), ambulance sirens are three-tone (Pi-Pin-Pon -Pi-Pin-Pon) the Belgian ambulance siren is not recognized in traffic, and, for drivers in their car, it is more difficult to locate. On the “highway” that surrounds Paris (the one in the video). It is not a highway, the speed is limited to 70 km/h (43 miles/h) and it is very dense (1.1 million cars per day on a 35 km loop, on Fridays, traffic increases to 1.25 million cars/day), in addition, priority is for vehicles entering the right lane, and there is neither an acceleration lane to insert into traffic, nor a lane deceleration to exit: the action of the bikers slows down the traffic, and the escort does not take care of the limitation, at times, the ambulance can drive at 100 km/h (62 miles/h) between two lines cars more or less well aligned which brake at less than 10 km/h (6 miles). The paramedics must also avoid any shock to the patient.

[@jaxxdotorg]

Actually, the two/three-tone sirens are different: All priority vehicles use two-tone, you must give way to them, including emergency ambulances (SAMU/Firefighter Ambulances), you can even burn a red light to free the way without any consequence (don't kill anyone in the process though)... "General Interest, non-priority vehicules", such as emergency electricity intervention, roadworks, or Private ambulances (for non life-threatening situations) use three tone sirens (but they can switch to a two tone if they are commissioned on SAMU request)... you can help them get through traffic but in no way you need to go crazy for them, that said, too many three-tone ambulances behave like cowboys just because they're late for lunch. So the rule is: two-tone, real emergency, make way. three-tone: facilitate if you can but no risk taking. The biggest difficulty is that people simply don't pay attention, and once it's too late and it's blairing sirens straight at the windscreen some simply freeze to death, unable to react, and others simply don't give a d*mn f*ck and won't budge because they only care about themselves... I can't count the number of times I push myself to the BAU (emergency stop lane) to let a firefighter pass from 50/100m away, and the guy right behind me simply says "F it, i'll take over and slow down the firetruck, who cares...", and they won't risk anything because, well, emergency services are busy saving people.... those ones are hopefully a minority, most are simply a bit lost on how to react and are already clumsy drivers to begin with, it takes them a couple of seconds to activate enough neurons, assess the surroundings, and clear the way ... The same who are too afraid to take the roundabout de l'Etoile ;-) You just gotta go for it :)

[@yngvildrthevoracious]

​@@jaxxdotorgomg you are spot on. The other day when coming back from a family party/cousinade in Poitiers partner was driving and some emergency vehicle (firefighters probably was mostly a red truck) had the lights on and no sirens. I think we were still on the A10 but well past St Arnoult and back home in IDF, not yet on the A6/N104/A4 we need to get home... My partner saw the lights and thought "let's just get to the rightside lanes just in case" and sooooo many people just freaking tried to take his place. A few people spotted the lights and moved to give it room to the left lane but it was rare. Eventually the firefighters did overtake us and many others and disappeared ahead...

[@bertrandls]

Very useful additional comment 😉: pin pon in english translates to 'nee-naw, nee-nah'... (Je viens de regarder sur google). Salute!

[@alexandrupatru2892]

@@bertrandls Cool! We just call it "nino, nino" in Romania.

[@altblechasyl_cs2093]

French acustic signals are ridicolous... this wail/yelp is much more intense and effective then that tütu tütu... 😂

[@Rivv96]

this ambulance is going to the Necker hospital. It's an hospital entierly dedicated to pediatric care and the first of its kind when it was build in 1778. Fun fact: the stethoscope was invented in this hospital. It's one of the best facilities in Europe for complex pediatric care. The cars vith the red lights on top are just taxis. Red means they're running a fare, green means it's available. Also for the first part of the video, this isn't a highway per se, but what we call the "peripherique", which is a belt of road surrounding Paris with multiple ramps for entry points in the city or the suburbs.

[@MojMechTech]

Merci!!!

[@micade2518]

Indeed, Laënnec! Funny that such a paramount invention came from his passion for music! Dixit Wikipedia: "René-Théophile-Hyacinthe Laennec was a French physician and musician. His skill at carving his own wooden flutes led him to invent the stethoscope in 1816, while working at the Hôpital Necker. He pioneered its use in diagnosing various chest conditions."

[@maethornaur]

I've got my heart surgery there (my first, in France, was at laennec before closing) even though I was 18 that time. Necker is a child hospital only (there's some expectation though, like if we follow the team there when you were a child). For the police to be involved like this I can assume it was for a transplant (maybe I'm wrong I don't know the context)

[@sfisabbt]

Also, at 9:30 when they talk, the policeman asks "Hello. Which service?". The Ambulance driver answers "Emergency service. I'll see..." P:"It's all the way back. Let's go. Come on." D: "It's for an emergency. We enter through emergency service anyway." There is no thanks or anything like that, it's just a technical exchange of information.

[@NavaSDMB]

I love that you called the peripherique "a belt of road". In English: beltway. You were this close >< to reinventing the exact same word the native speakers did.

[@patrickchambers5999]

In most European countries drivers must go to the closest side of the road and slow/stop when they hear emergency sirens.

[@Mike-zx1kx]

If a one or two lane road, keep to the right!

[@leong1190]

In Germany, if you hear sirens or if traffic slows down, jam, accident, you don't know, the left most lane should move to the left shoulder while the right (and others) hold to the right leaving an opening for emergency vehicles to get through.

[@Kedvespatikus]

@@leong1190 The most advanced solution so far to provide an emergency lane. Should be adopted by the whole EU!

[@puccaland]

That's the same in France but this is Paris, one of the most densely populated and built cities in the world, same with traffic, so it's not always possible and relying on that would be dangerous for the ambulance needs to go fast and not everyone can react and find the space to do the manoeuvre on time. That's why they sometimes use the police help to clear the way beforehand. That's theory vs reality on the ground.

[@vigdisconteuse7294]

I came here to say so. People are used to move their car on the side when they hear sirens.

[@Rivv96]

Oh, one thing of note that I forgot to mention in my first comment : police motorcycle escorts in France are a two man job, each has a specific role : the bike in front is called the courier, his job is to clear out the road ahead and call out any audible regarding the navigation. The second bike rides much closer to the ambulance and is called the regulator : his job is to manage the pace of the convoy so it never stops, and ensures that the vehicles that made way for the convoy do not stray back in their path. They do these kind of escorts for ambulances on a daily basis in Paris because the traffic is a nightmare, but they can also be called for sensitive convoys such as high-risk prisoner transports, money transport or high value items such as art pieces for museums. Also, if the camera gets shaky towards the end, it's because the district they ride through has a lot of streets and avenues paved with cobblestone.

[@paulrandig]

When we needed an escort, nobody thought about fist-bumps or high-fives. The arrival at the hospital is not the main goal but only the prelude of the most serious phase: To save the life of your passenger. I can only speak about myself, but as an ambulance driver my main feelings were worry and hope and when I had the rare opportunity to meet my escort and thank them for having done a good job, I always fought back tears. As long as I could drive, I could do everything in my power to help my passenger. But as soon as I had handed him/her over and the adrenalin level went down, I felt so helpless I was in no mood for excited gestures.

[@Jjong-90]

For us it’s like okay we made it best of luck for whoever is in that samu just culture difference.

[@CdtDdr]

There was no fist-bump at the end, they were asking what service entrance they needed to go so they can lead them there.

[@millili7980]

​@@CdtDdris correct, they were asking to which service they should get them, in this case emergency.

[@Killem6089]

There were no high-five in the video, the policeman was just asking which hospital service the ambulance needed to be lead on.

[@paulrandig]

@@Killem6089 I am not referring to the video but to the rection at 9:44.

[@christianibarbia9380]

as french I am use to see these motorcycles officers working... they are, on that video escorting this ambulance on the Boulevard Peripherique, which is 35 kms around Paris city... there are more than 1 million vehicules daily.. and theses officers are always making a brillant job.. they deserve our thanks for the job they are doing.. not only the escorts, but bad drivers chases, prisoniers escorts, land forces back up, and so on.. I have sincerely a great respect for them and at the end when you are asking what they said, at the entry of the hospital, the officers asked where the ambulance had to go, and the paramedic replied : "to the emergencies "

[@Bidorchar]

Hey Ian, at 8:40 those black car with red light on the roof you saw are taxis. Red light signifying "occupied/booked". Taxis are most of the time black and/or just regular sedan car with roof signals and stickers on the side. And at 9:40, the ambulance driver was talking with the cop about wich hospital service they were going to and asked for the "emergencies" or "ER" for the US (I think it's what you call it in the USA)

[@zedaadega7420]

The american use red+blue lights in their emergency vehicles. I'm portuguese and not sure if the red light is used in other european countries, here in Portugual we only use two colors: Blue for emergency vehicles, and yellow for slow moving vehicles, such as a garbage truck. The red flashing light is not allowed in Portugal. The only instance of a vehicle flashing a red light in Portugal, was when the american president Barrack Obama landed at the Lisbon airport, in his Airforce 1 plane, and had the american secret services cars allready waiting for him in Portugal, to escort him to our Parliement. On the other hand, the spanish motorway police "Guardia Civil" have the same uniform as the municipal trash collectors in Lisbon. When I drive in Spain and I see someone dressed as a garbage man, I must allways remember it's the spanish traffic police! :) So I must slow down, because Dorothy is not in Kansas anymore, and the spanish police highway patrol men are dressed in the same uniform as the portuguese municipal trash men in Lisbon. ;)

[@TheAngelsHaveThePhoneBox]

@@zedaadega7420 In the Czech Republic, they changed the law some years ago and allowed red+blue lights too, so that's what you now see on Czech police cars (haven't seen them on ambulances or firetrucks but it's possible there are some too). I think there was some argument that under certain conditions (heavy fog maybe?), red light is more visible than blue.

[@KaasSchaaf666]

I am a big man of fifty years old, but it makes me emotional to see how these professionals do their utmost, certainly not without risk, to save the life of a child. very beautiful, thank you. 🙏

[@gandigooglegandigoogle7202]

the French bikers from the national police and the gendarmerie are absolutely incredible...they are tightrope walkers on their motorbikes, I wouldn't run away with them chasing me, they are too strong!

[@mmadmic]

Just for info, it is a normal traffic, even relatively low compared to usual traffic in Paris or Brussels. Brussels to Paris takes usually 5 hours, 1½h to do the 5 km to leave Brussels, 2h for the 230km of highway and 1½h to do the last 2 km in Paris. There are a few hospitals in France and Belgium that are "last resort" ones, when a patient is sent to Necker in France or Erasme in Belgium, it's because there is no other option.

[@butenbremer1965]

Being "All-In" for the rescue of a child's life - RESPECT and LOVE to everyone involved. And I bet it didn't even cost the family a single dime...

[@duledule1127]

you bet it

[@thatdudeinorange5269]

Its in Europa where healtcare ment to make sure people get well, not about filling up insurance companys deep deep pockets.

[@TelManothHexperax]

as a french i can confirm it, it cost nothink to the familly .

[@StefanVeenstra]

Probably on insurance. Healthcare is never free, but there's an obligation and priority to saving lives. Their dimes went to paying premium.

[@tfjdfhozs3s849]

​@@StefanVeenstraWe all pay for that's kind of services, and i'm happy my money, in this case, is not lost.

[@ralphdarc3094]

Hey ! Another French biker here . First of all I hope the kid survived and is doing well. Also want to reaffirm how skilful and amazing those French police (and Gendarmes who are actually affiliated to the army but police our roads and countryside) Riders are . I have , over the years witness the level of skill those riders have . They are very passionate motorcyclists who decide to serve their country doing what they love which is riding motorcycles . Soutien a nos motards pour leur travail quotidien.

[@Songbirdstress]

When you think the world is going to shit, it's heart warming to see hundreds of people working together to save a child's life. Kudos to the policeman, Great job.

[@kevinbarbier5755]

Police escort is always a HUGE help in this situation. Unfortunately, not always that easy for the Emergency Services when they are not here

[@johnguppy2120]

The truck at 5:40: great work recognising what is happening and stopping in the right lane to let the ambo exit.

[@yvesd_fr1810]

Most likely, french police took the Belgian ambulance around Charles de Gaulle airport where the trafic gets generally heavier. They escort the ambulance (that has the funny "US siren") through the heavy circular boulevard around Paris and within Paris to the Necker hospital, that is specialized to treat sick children. As a former parisian, it's great to see how police took several places and streets facing oncomming trafic...

[@Dung30n]

Yeah, the moment the escorts went into the oncoming lane was nerve-racking. Gotta have balls of steel to do what these guys do.

[@fabs8498]

L'ambulance aurait été française je pense.

[@okbutthenagain.9402]

The situational awareness of the Police escorts are unbelieveable. Well done to all involved as it was all done superbly.

[@danielalala-s6i]

These specialized police bikers are called motards in french, pronounced motar, and they are f...g good.

[@samanthaspencer7404]

Hi there, just so you get an idea of the general workings of roads here in France, when driving it is crucial for every driver to react immediately when hearing sirens....each driver is totally responsable to participate in making room in every way possible for emergency véhicules.....working together 🥰 this is just as it is and never put in question❣️ Thanks for your video Love from France 😊

[@kevinair7669]

French are not as good for clearing path as Germans or Scandinavians countries, we can improve but we are not so bad.

[@bambiclumsyfawn]

​@@kevinair7669 It's true but in Germany there is ALWAYS a stupid guy who didn't react. He derails everyone's efforts. -_-

[@Trikipum]

Yes, it is the same across europe, at least western europe and the police arent really needed, you get the same effect with just the ambulance's syrens.. the only thing the police made diferent is when they went in the oposite side of the road (with ongoing traffic).

[@samhartford8677]

@@Trikipum Yeps, speaks volumes about the dire need this child was in. I hope (s)he made it.

[@timowallin8020]

@@Trikipum Here in Finland ambulance can drive one way street wrong way(by it self) and many times do but only if its safe so rarely/maybe never in highway.

[@derrin-leadavis2348]

F@#&** that was amazing. Take a bow! Now that's how a country should function. Prayers to the children in need.

[@LeSarthois]

For your comment avec the "smartness" of the police officer on his bike, in France, police forces receive extra training for being on motocycle road units. And we're talking month of training to be sure they will be the sharpest and most cool-headed ones in tight situations. They are also trained in working in coordination with other motorcycle units, as you saw around 12 :00 Basically, they look skilled because they are, and getting them on a bike rather than in a car isn't just for convenience, it's a work on it's own (and usually regarded as a reward). In the same way, the Gendarmerie units you will see on the French freeways are also specialized units trained in high speed chases (yes they happen... when it's deemed necessary)

[@jeanjacques9980]

Not all are as “cool” as you describe!

[@RenoLaringo]

I see exactly where this is. What the driver was looking for was the entrance for the emergency so the bikers told him to follow them at the end. Very civil and professionnal. It's another league. French and Belgians are very intertwined in Europe. On every level and for a very long time. Belgian people are French's closer brothers. We make fun of eacher others but always in a gentle and funny way . We French and Belgian people go along quite well (first thing first: same language, same culture, and a shared history).

[@benoitpisarchick6866]

with the french speaking belgians, with the flemish (dutchspeaker) it's a litlle bit different...

[@jaro551]

Yeah I'm Flamand, can't speak French unfortunetly 😢. Quite embarassing, but I do make sure I make fun of you guys though :P

[@ermul61]

Those cars with red signs were just taxis on a reserved lane, moving backwards from the main lanes. That was just next to the Arc de Triomphe.

[@VinDieselS70]

The wee red car the police layed hands on is an Alfa Romeo MiTo.

[@rowejon]

A long time ago I was trained as a Fire Brigade driver. I was taught "maximum progress driving". That isn't just driving fast, it's progressing fast through traffic. Much respect for all the emergency services drivers in this film.

[@kaul407]

WOW!!!! The bike cops did an amazing job! TOTAL RESPECT fo the cops and the ambulance crew! Mahadev Bless them all!

[@NastazyaPhylipovnaTchornaya]

What they said around minute 10 was: "Urgences? On rentre par les urgences de toutes façons." = "Emergency? We're going in through the Emergency Entrance anyway."

[@One-Watermelon]

Escorts like that are so helpful in bigger cities. Esp with urgent international transfers. That Belgian ambulance was already on the road for hours

[@shilombaba]

-Hello. At first, it was not an highway, but the "Boulevard Périphérique", a ring that goes around the city, like in many other ones. -The lane with all the "red lit" cars is actually just a BUS lane, that Taxis can use. The lights were their "meter status" -9:32 : Cop : "Hello, which unit?" Ambulance driver : "Emergency" (which I do find funny as "emergency excorts go") Cop : "it's gonna be at the end, follow me, gogo" Also, SAMU : Service d'Aide Médicale d'Urgence (Medical Emergency aid(care) department)

[@boukleon9147]

10:00 Well, they didn't fistbump but asked where they should go the trip hasn't ended yet

[@hellmonster3593]

The cars with reds or Green lights on the roof are Taxis, if the light is green, it's available, and if it's red, it's not!

[@Olivier.v]

Some additional information. 8:40 The cars with fixed red light are taxis (red is busy, green is available). 9:35 About the dialog between the police bikers (PB) and the ambulance driver (AD). As the ambulance was coming from far away, its driver had no idea where had to go and the emergency was still ongoing... During the siren: "Hello" PB1:"What medical service?" AD: "Emergency?" AD: "I will see" [I suppose the AD was tired and during its didn't had time to read the mission order in which it's he the service in which the child is expected] PB1: "It will be at the very back" [of the hospital site] AD: "Is it for emergencies?" PB1: "Yes, that's it, it's at the very back." AD: "Where? PB1: "Go ahead, go ahead!" PB2: Come on, follow me" AD: "We do that. We have to go to the emergency service anyway"

[@Ixcepe]

Really interesting to see this reaction to what is part of my daily life, as a resident of the Paris suburbs. We forget what an incredible job these people do. And believe me, the traffic there was very light, on an exceptionally calm day.

[@Konstantinos78]

Like in most places in the world, police and especially the rapid response motorcycle police that we have here in Greece, go to guardian angel mode when it comes to children! They guide ambulances so the can make better times! Some videos that have come to light, show transport done in record time that seems unbelievable to all of us that know the time one would normally need due to traffic and the distance!! ! In some cases, if there is no time to wait for an ambulance they may use a police car, and in other cases, if it's just the motorcycles at the scene and no police car, one of the motorcycle police(there are usually two per bike) will even jump in the driver seat of the parent's car and drive. They have high speed driving training and are far more cool-headed, so they really deliver miracles!!! On top of that, these officers are so humble and do not seek credit! And to be just... Ambulance drivers are also badass here in Greece! They go above and beyond and will do everything they can to get the job done! Even in a crowded city like Athens! We see it all the time that real life heroes don't wear capes and we thank them for all they do!

[@vincent9927]

The car with red light was an occupied taxi, the light is green when free

[@thierrybidault5837]

I always appreciate your videos about Europe because your comments are generally smart. Thanx! The "motards de la police" - police officers on motorbikes - are acrobats. As a Parisian and long time biker, I am VERY impressed by their work. By the way, the cars with red light in the Paris street at 8:44 are taxis, since you asked. Keep the good job man!

[@christianibarbia9380]

the "motards de la police" ....Officially attached to the "Compagnie Motocyclistes de la Prefecture de Police de Paris" ..officers you can count on when their assistance is required ..

[@j.p.vanbolhuis8678]

5:00. Handsy with the car. He was attracting attention and then telling the driver to stay on that side. Nothing so bad as a driver that suddenly realises he is in the wrong spot and then tries to correct...

[@michaeldebleser3253]

We do it like this in europe. Love your beard moustache 👍 greetings from belgium

[@yann3784]

Quick note on the cars with red light on top: these are Taxis! BTW you can see the Arc de Triomphe at 8:09, the abmulance is driving the peripherique (ring road) at the begining of the video, then Porte Dauphine 6:34, Avenue Foch, then place de l'étoile (with the Arc de Triomphe) 8:11, and finally arrived at the Children's Hospital Necker at 9:19. Hope the young patient is doing well.

[@m9videos]

They say at the end: where are the emergency entrances? the bikers say that they accompany them in front of the Emergency department entrances, I think you asked yourself the question why the vehicles have the lights on when it is daytime, the "daytime running lights" have been an obligation since around ten years on all new cars, it only lights up on the front of the vehicles and it must stop as soon as the night lights are on

[@darkknight8139]

"Very busy day on the highway here". Well, unfortunately, this is the Périphérique, the ring road around Paris. This kind of traffic is quite normal here... Otherwise, this run is amazing. French roads can be total chaos when there is so much traffic, and people seem to forget everything they have learned when an emergency vehicle is nearby. Hence the erratic behaviour of some. AT the end (9:27) the ambulance driver joked by turning on its siren for a short while :) But then, they discussed where to go. The ambulance just asked for the first aid entrance (urgence), and followed the police bike. They could have communicated that beforehand...

[@automation7295]

I'm assuming that him being American. While US does have expressways, they don't seem to have any sign for when expressway begins, which in Europe it's large rectangular sign with a car symbol. Isn't Périphérique just kind of a expressway as well? *"people seem to forget everything they have learned when an emergency vehicle is nearby"* Yeah, only some drivers seem to forget, but they're still trying their best since there's too many traffic, they don't just want to smash into other cars or anything. In the end of the day we humans aren't perfect, which is also why these police are remind them to move over. *"They could have communicated that beforehand..."* Maybe they forgot, even police and ambulance drivers can forget things sometimes.

[@darkknight8139]

@@automation7295 Technically, the Périphérique is a normal city road having multiple lanes and a 70 km/h speed limit. There are no expressway signs on it, the one you describe as a rectangular blue sign with a car on it. On one hand, people do their best and try to follow the police bike's orders as best as they can. On the other hand, there is not really a system in the directions given by the police. Compare Germany's "Rettungsgasse", you are required to form an extra "lane" between the leftmost lane and the lane next to it, when there is this much traffic. Police and ambulances can easily use that. Here in Paris, that space is used by motorbikes overtaking slow cars.

[@KyrilPG]

Périphérique is not a normal city road and neither a highway. It is a "boulevard" with special rules, that looks like a highway. As previously said, the speed limit is higher than it would be on a boulevard. And vehicles entering it have priority over vehicles already on it, which can be really confusing to first timers as they usually think they are on a highway.

[@zelrod9280]

the cars with red light are taxis.

[@yvesd_fr1810]

Red when they are hired, green when they are available for customers.

[@Congobajer]

Was going to write this lol

[@onearthonelegion]

Going to Moulin Rouge

[@micade2518]

Hi Ian, I seem to remember that I'd recommended that video to you. In any case, great of you to react on it. Look at the (yet mild) traffic on the approach to Paris! The bikers are the Police and them and ambulances have absolute priority. The ambulance being Belgian, the police showed it the way too, in a foreign city. When they got to the hospital, the voice you heard was someone giving them directions to the emergencies entrance.

[@gerrybaggins]

8:44 the cars with little light on the top are taxis. Green lights if they're free, red ones if they already have a customer.

[@ethanazais581]

Cars with a red static light on paris road are taxis, in europe taxi aren't yellow, they just have a sign and a light ln the roof indicating kf they are free or not. Great vid !

[@davis2671]

I suggested this video some time ago, glad you found it! Definitely one of the best and most interesting ambulance ride video I've ever seen.

[@ss974]

8:41 Those lights are from Taxi (old classic version of uber). They have a light panel on their roof saiyng "taxi" and red light is if he have customers. The other colors white, green and yellow are all for when he is empty but it's for the price (day/week-end/night)

[@bitenbronze1]

Cars with the red lights are Taxis ! the Red light means it's occupied, it turn green when the taxi is free of customers.(It should state the word "taxi" and the city wich the driver is from. Covered in black when not in use) Its actually a thing that is mandatory for Taxis all accross France. I believe it was instaured as a way of making things easyer for customers to see wich taxi is available as well as making it fair for all taxi drivers. In France taxi drivers are required to buy their own car so this reglemented light is also a way to make a taxi regocnizable for customers as they most likely don't have any special livery.

[@SandraBrown-h1o]

You may also notice a whistle blowing which is hard to hear over the sirens. This is typical of French police,the whistle cuts through traffic noise and catches attention in a different way from the two tones/ sirens

[@BzhToine]

When they start wistling you may pay attention because they start to be fed up generaly.

[@MrCydoo]

french police biker's are the one the best police in the world, they are very skilled and pro :)

[@ncormontagne]

The images are taken on the ring around Paris which is called the "périphérique" and it is one of the busiest roads at peak hours. It's basically like this every day.

[@RazudMezeghis]

Fun fact... syren cadence changes often in traffic to alert drivers to move out of the way.

[@BertrandNelson-Paris]

SAMU means Service d'aide médicale urgente (Emergency Service), it's a first responder for any french person who dials 15 or 112. It's a region based service which filters calls and regulates if needed the use of ambulances for urgent pre-hospitilazation service. For road accidents, SAMU uses SMUR (Service Medical Urgent Routier or Road Emergency Service) ICU-equipped ambulances for the same purpose of preparing patients for hospitalization. I believe that's the main difference with how US ambulances work, there they have the duty to only quickly transport the patient with less medical intervention. In France, it's common to see SAMU ambulances stop to treat critical issues on the road to hospital. So I don't know why you believe there's a child in this case, may be it's explained in the original video. FYI, cars with red lights on the roofs are taxis cabs in service, without clients the light would be green and off duty there would be no light at all. Taxis can drive on bus lanes. At the entry of the hospital complex, they don't congratulate themselves with high fives, they speak of searching for the emergencies entrance, the hospital is huge with streets among hospital's buildings.... I'm a Parisian BTW.

[@khaelamensha3624]

The police and gendarmerie bike unit have an amazing level, most of the bikers I know wished to enter but did not have enough competencies. Great guys. At the beginning of the video it is just a quiet day in Paris 😂 For information in several cases I did cross a red light when police, firemen or ambulances were coming behind me, this move is allowed

[@stephanehouziaux278]

Bonjour, je suis Belge et cette situation n'est pas du tout inhabituelle. Les conducteurs français et belges sont habitués à s'écarter et s'arrêter au son d'une ambulance pour la laisser passer. Généralement, même à Bruxelles qui réputée pour être la ville la plus embouteillée du monde, il n'y a pas besoin de l'intervention de motards de la police. Le long des autoroutes, il y a même des panneaux qui expliquent que vous devez faire cela. Je précise aussi que je suis motard au quotidien et que ce comportement de s'écarter s'effectue aussi naturellement pour laisser passer les motos dans les embouteillages.

[@soly-dp-colo6388]

French here. This is not the highway, this is the périphérique (the huge Paris ringroad that litterally surrounds the city of Paris). Speed limit on the périph' is usually 70 km/h or 43 mph. If you don't move when emergency vehicles tell you to, the penalty is -4 points on your drivers' licence (we have 12 points on our driver's licence) and 135€ fine. That's one of the highest penalties there is, so everyone does let them through. It's not because they're nice, it's just that they don't want to be fined.

[@DaChaGee]

Belgium has different sirens to France (as you can hear), probably another reason why they needed an escort.

[@lalrobinlalrobin7735]

It is a good reason, but with an police escort they get there much faster and avoid any traffic jam.

[@TheUtada1983]

No they are doing that for french ambulances too, not all of course but for critical situation.

[@cehonteu9058]

I think it was SAMU which I think is only in France (I could be wrong) and they have different sirens than police or regular ambulances. If it's SAMU going to Necker hospital it means that this child's condition was really serious because Necker is one of the best pediatric hospital in europe and SAMU has the particularity to be able to proceed to an open heart surgery in any location and has a machine capable of temporarily replacing the heart while transporting the patient to the hospital.

[@lbreda]

Here in Italy (and in most Europe I think) ambulances and Police have very different sirens. Ambulances usually have a second faster siren (you can hear it in this video) used when they are jammed.

[@cehonteu9058]

@@lbreda Yeah I live in France and it's the same thing but I think SAMU's siren is different from ambulances' (I might be wrong because I'm not really used to hear it because they only intervene when the firefighters can't do anything and so in a small town like the one I live in it's quite rare to hear them)

[@CyrilleParis]

I can tell those guys on motorcycles are heroes. All you showed in this video is in and around Paris. I live here (I didn't see the whole video from Belgium). A friend of mine and roommate used to be an ambulace driver, then an ambulance nurse. He told me about those guys who were so professional in the risk they were taking to save lives. It's a pleasure to see them here valued as they should. One thing missing is the speed at which they are able to handle situations. You can see it a bit at the exit lane : they began at a speed between 80 and 90 miles/h and went in front of the exit lane between cars (where you can see them disapear) to go onwards to tell the not-knowing front car drivers to go so as to free the space behind. I remember my friend talking about one time when he went at 100 miles/h in a cramped city center (on the main street which is straight), and the motorcycling police cutting all crossing trafic : there were four of them, 2 in the front and two in the back. When the two in the front had cut the trafic from one crossroad, the two in the back would come in the front to cut the next crossraod, and so on. All of that requires of course a lot of skill in driving, but also a lot of team trust and training.

[@yd8104]

km/h, not miles/h, lol

[@CyrilleParis]

@@yd8104 I think in km/h but I used miles/h on purpose in this comment. It is really miles/h you should read.

[@yd8104]

@@CyrilleParis Dude, they are not doing this at 80 or 90 mph, meaning 130 or 140 kph. That's all

[@tenalafel]

On the Périphérique, they are probably mostly between 90 and 130 Km/h. Outside it, they definitely went up the Avenue de la Grande Armée at over the speed limit ( 50Km/h ), and went through the Place de l'étoile at speed I would never dream being there to go in the Avenue de Iéna on wong way in the bus lane still at over 50 km/h

[@Noob4all94]

Used to live indowntown Paris, this trafic is pretty fluid, usually, meaning from 6h30 to 21pm the trafic is awfull. Sometimes it can take 2h30 to make 10 miles to go to work or to go home from work

[@ZekeAR2]

Cars with red lights in the city are Taxis (they turn green when available/free). When they arrived to the hospital police ask someone the "Emergency service" location.

[@Danger_Mouse_00]

These guys on the bikes do the Tour de France and they also have the camera bikes too with the camera man on the back ofbikes and often see them standing up and even going around corners still standing while filming. You should check this out for some goodbike skills.

[@Mike-zx1kx]

Guess they got some new not that experience driver recruited last 2 years. TdF had several unfortunate incidents last year and this year caused by motorbike drivers failure to clear road causing even complete stops by leading riders. Has been a widely globally discussed subject in media and cycling world. When they have done such a good job for many many years I guess mistakes are easier to notice.

[@XtremgentleDom]

And the red light on top of a few cars inside Paris, it was taxis that had clients in. It is green if they are available and yellow if on break

[@DIMZEROCENT]

@9:30 Belgian ambulance driver doesn't know the hospital site and asks for a bit more help as he's got to present the child patient at the entrance of the emergency service. Police officer answers to follow him as he'll show the way. Nice vid Bro, greetings from Belgium.

[@GregBallotepitech]

Fun fact, to be admitted at the "Garde nationale" (the fast responding unit on those bikes), riders used to need to clear a full circle around Paris in less than 15 minutes (35 kilometers or 21 miles in very heavy traffic), which is absolutely nuts. Those guys don't mess around !

[@yapoyapoti8807]

After the entry, the hospital is so big that the policemen ask where is the emergency hall! It is in Paris. I love so your comment!

[@brusselscam4802]

WHat they said around the 9:30 mark is that the cop asks in what departement they have to go, the ambulance driver says ER. Also, I already saw that video, the ambulance driver is unfamiliar with Necker so he really needs the cops to bring him directly to the good entrance.

[@sebastienbily2331]

I'm French and parisian so not the best respectful driver in the world but you see cops on bikes and ambulance you move because you know it's a life or death situation.

[@cytrix9418]

At the end it wasn't a fist bump they asked him what service he was looking for then they guided him to it.

[@XanagiHunag]

I am pretty sure it's part of the laws related to driving, in France, that you need to move out of the way and slow down for emergency services (also the norm in other european countries and basically anywhere who cares about their house not burning down). Be it firemen, policemen, or ambulances. The police was most likely there to make sure there was no issue, or to say which lane was allowed to move to allow better movement for the ambulance, like at 6:40 they probably told the right lane to go forward whilst blocking the roundabout's to allow for quick entry. Pedestrians won't cross the road when hearing sirens. The buses you see are mostly touring buses. What they said at the end was more about asking directions for where to go.

[@romainhugon7052]

when they arrived at the hospital, the police asked the ambulance where it needed to go, it was the emergency "urgence", because hospitals here are often multiple buildings so they just wanted to know where to go.

[@TheGrandy123]

9:54 they asked the driver to which service he has to go or if he wants to go through emergency first. The driver said emergency. In Paris hospitals can be split into several buildings with roads, gardens, etc. So it can be tough to find his way inside. It is a city inside the city. I suppose that is why the policeman asked the driver where he has to go to drive him to the correct building.

[@SFV4]

8:45: the cars with red light were cabs. TAXI was written in red and the sign is illuminated from the inside

[@addictiveaussie]

I was a FF in Sydney's CBD for over 20 years and drove a truck under emergency conditions well over 5000 times in that period. It isn't as hard as you may think because people are very aware of your presence. The most stressful part is judging distance because you have to squeeze through gaps between vehicles and poles etc, sometimes with mere millimetres to spare on either side. You'd be surprised what adrenalin allows the average person to achieve under stress. It sharpens your senses dramatically.

[@OlivTho]

9:32 The "fist bump" discussion actually was about what service of the hospital was the final destination. In this case, the emergency.

[@Itouks]

French first responder here. Thanks for that video. :-) At the end, police just ask what service they need to reach. And ambulance said "we're goind to emergency service"

[@08taw94]

Police opens the road to ambulance only in very heavy cases. At 09:38 they are discussing to which entry they should go, the car driver told he needs the emergency service but doesn't know where is the gate, then a policeman decides to lead him there.

[@nathaliecarluccio7559]

Great job from these cops, their riding skills are amazing 😮

[@Eastlomond]

I used to be an emergency responder (traffic department) in the Police in Scotland. The level of training we do is extremely high and it stays with you. I would recommend any driver get a copy of the book called Roadcraft, which is used as a training manual for the Police. It is full of wonderful advice and direction which would improve the driving experience.

[@juliennapoli]

I didn't realize the intense level of awareness these bikers are performing, that's really impressive !

[@0raj0]

Do you know that in some countries (I don't know for Belgium or France, but that's the case in Poland for example) emergency medical services do also have paramedics who ride motorbikes, or even plain bicycles? In a crowded city (and especially in pedestrian-only zones), they can quicker get to a person who needs help and begin treating them, before an ambulance can arrive to take over.

When they left the "highway" to take the ramp up right, the street narrowed and the traffic got havier. The escort disapeared because the best thing was to get to the crossing ahead to stop traffic from other incoming streets just to clear the line where was the ambulance. When the video is bumpy it is because some historic streets in the center of Paris are covered with paving stones. When in the hospital, they stopped to ask if the ambulance was going to the normal entrance or to the urgency door as many hospitals in France have a special entry for urgency cases.

[@VictorRos52]

For people who want to know what they said between 9:33 and 9:44 In english: "Hello, which department? Emergency, I'll have a look. It must be at the back. Yes, it's at the back, go ahead, go ahead. Come on. We're going in through the emergency anyway." In french: "Bonjour, quel service ? Urgence, je vais voir. Cela doit être tout au fond. Oui c'est tout au fond, vas-y, vas-y. Aller venez. On rentre par les urgences de toute façon." They were looking for emergency department as they just entered the hospital. I'm french so translation should be accurate xD

[@Erulin68]

9:40 Belgian here... He didn't fistbumb or say thank you. He asked where they needed to be and if it was for the Emergency entrance. Then the cop said 'lets go'

[@doobybrother21]

I believe the police officer first said 'a' votre service' probably in response to the driver thanking them. After that he inquired about the emergency entrance.

[@Erulin68]

@@doobybrother21 'la service' The service entrance (the Walloon way of saying) "Oh Urgence" Oh, the urgency entrance... (the French way of saying it)

[@doobybrother21]

@@Erulin68 la service ? Je pense pas non. Le service des urgences peut etre mais les urgences ou dans ce cas l'entree des urgences.

[@samhartford8677]

All I could think about was the poor child who needed a three hour police escort of their ambulance to a foreign country to save their life. But yeah, beautiful work by the police.

[@alwynemcintyre2184]

Guessing drivers comply because it's part of the driver training to get your licence.

[@JohanHultin]

And cus even assuming a driver is a asshole and don’t care about the patient, not complying is a quick way to lose your license. Atleast here in Sweden it can also land you in jail.

[@BzhToine]

Or just because there is an other person life at stake and they do what they can to get out of the way. Just being a human.

[@LukeGB003]

At 4:59 that wierd little car is an Alfa Romeo MiTo. I own one of these. Lovely little car if you get the higher powered ones.

[@hellboyofficiel2643]

At 9:30, the policeman asks to which service they need to go. And the ambulance answers "It's for the Emergency service". Then the policemen answers "OK come" (In french, Emergency is "Urgences")

[@Hugo74390]

The cars with red lights are Taxis. Their overoof light is red when busy / booked, green when available.

[@sorrow1102]

French here! The police man was just asking what service the ambulance needed to go and he respond to urgent care service. ✌️

[@markjones127]

The SEG (Special Escort Group) are also very interesting, they're part of the Metropolitan police in London, they're only used for top ranking officials, royals, heads of state etc. but they use some very interesting techniques to make sure whoever they're escorting never has to stop, like using whistles instead of sirens and not having a set route, they make up their route as they go, there's a very interesting video called 'Inconspicuous Ingenuity - Escorted by the Met Police SEG' all about them, this video includes footage from inside a vehicle being escorted which makes it very unique.

[@rogmorts1]

SEG "Special Escort Group" (the clue is in the initials) of tbe Metropolitan Police.

[@rogmorts1]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/qZnCn2awa8Znfposi=8Gpkl7m-2IvFlcCJ

[@darkiee69]

You could hear that these officers used a whistle too, besides the sirens.

[@rogmorts1]

@darkiee69 the French police like a good whistle and it just cuts through the normal sound of a city

[@jeanjacques9980]

The British police seg riders recently killed a women, escorting some petty minor royal.

[@loupdeguerre]

at 9:30 they did not in fact fist bump or high five each over. The cops were asking to which service the ambulance was going, to lead them there

[@melbeasley9762]

When I was in London Ambulance Service, our station had a SCABU Special Care Baby Unit. It had an incubator fixed to a trolley. If you had a SCABU call, you'd leave your reguar bus and take that vehicle. The calls were often long distance transfers. If you were going out of London, you may get a police escort as the last thing you needed was trying to find a hospital in a strange area. This was before Satnavs were fitted. The drive was stressful because you had to consider the baby wasn't strapped down in the incubator but you still had to drive as fast as you could.

[@hamed250422]

the cars with the red lights on them are taxis, and when they arrived and talked to someone they were asked where they were going exactly, since its not a local ambulance, the workers there didn't know exactly where to direct them.

[@MedS1010]

The interaction beteween the cops and the ambulance driver (00:09:30) was cops making sure they must go to the emergency service entrance

[@DailyDamage]

Generally you will see a so called “Rettungsgasse” (rescue lane) space being automatically created when there are motorway traffic jams in Germany. Thus drivers will tend to move to the left/right of the lanes to ensure a space is left free for any potential emergency vehicle needs.

[@dipsy64]

8:45 The "cars with red lights" are taxis. Red means they're busy, green means they're free for service.

[@joriskemper5392]

I once had police escort when the ambulance brought me to the hospital with a very acute case of hypothermia after some ahole punched me in the lake at a concert in the freezing winter.. I had to walk 2 miles before I could reach help and by then every step felt like a mile. My clothing was frozen wet and I collapsed right in front of the the emergency hut on the concert beach. I was 15 years old and was more thankfull then to the beautiful nurses that took care of me than the ambulance drivers and the police escort due to well known hormonal effects around puberty. Those nurses though, they gave me the kid vip treatment, constantly coming to banter and laugh with me, giving me treats and even teased me a bit because they thought it was cute how flushed I was. I don't really remember but some of my remaining body heat was probably concentrated in a very specific area underneath the thermal blankets the whole time. The ambulance brought me back to school when I was recovered and they did it with all the bells and whistles (as far as they were allowed) just to please the kid I was back then.

[@Piijo2K-hf3vk]

I think many parts of Paris still have cobblestones streets, it´s very bumpy for the car, but it gives some kind of "old town look".

[@eugenieponleve667]

NO,a few streets have cobblestones in the EU ,to show they are shopping streets for pedestrian use only and they have been renovated with cobblestones ,but that is most unusual in Paris.

[@Needalex]

8:45 taxi being occupied has red instead of grean light on the cab light / The cop asked the amulance driver for the service of the hospital he is looking for, they don't do litle talk just straight questions and answers