Give way for the Ambulance

E C N A L U B M A

Do you remember seeing this word somewhere ? Is it some sort of a jumbled word ? A puzzle ?

Yes, you got it right. Its the reverse of the word AMBULANCE... Do you know why this word is printed in its mirror image on the Ambulance ? The first and foremost reason being : The driver driving ahead of the ambulance should see this mirror image as the exact word and should pave way for this - "most important, most urgent, no-traffic rules" - Vehicle, The Ambulance.

and now, a bit of history of the Ambulance...

The Ambulance vehicle was designed and built by Dominique Jean Larrey (1766–1842), Napoleon Bonaparte’s chief physician. The term ambulance comes from the Latin word ambulare, meaning to walk or move about. Half a century later, during the United States’ Civil War, military physicians Joseph Barnes and Jonathan Letterman built upon Larrey’s work and designed a prehospital care system for that included transporting wounded soldiers to treatment facilities by railroad. These are usually fitted with flashing warning lights and sirens in order to facilitate their movement through heavy traffic. It is these emergency ambulances that are most likely to display the Star of Life, which represents the six stages of prehospital medical care.

Courtesy: wikipedia.org

Of all the major cities in India, I have felt Chennai's traffic to be the most safe and disciplined of all. But, i wonder why, the drivers here in Chennai turn a deaf ear to the sound of the Ambulance. One must always give importance to the Ambulance and understand its very basic purpose. If you feel the pain the patient inside the Ambulance is undergoing, you will never dare to stand on the way of the Ambulance. Who knows, one day, you may be inside the same Ambulance, fighting for your life!

So, for Christ's sake, when you hear the slightest sound of the Ambulance's siren, just move away and give way to the Ambulance so that the patient inside, get the treatment at the right time. You may become the cause of someone's death, just by being ignorant of the sound of the siren !

Here is a compiled list of Ambulance services in Chennai. I have tried to verify the phone numbers as much as i can. Do let me know if you find any phone numbers invalid.