I was recently sent a video of an NBC news clip on some of the critical issues that emergency responders are dealing with. When they are dispatched to an emergency, response time is critical. It can mean the difference between life and death, or a small fire growing exponentially, or perhaps catching a criminal in the act, or escaping. Lives can be saved by a quick response, but just getting there is taking longer.

There are always problems with congestion, gridlock, and drivers who panic or won’t budge. And then there are some drivers who try to beat the emergency vehicle rather than yield to it. But a more recent problem that is adding to the response time is that modern cars are designed to keep outside noise outside by better insulation and noise dampening. That makes it more difficult for drivers to hear the sirens and electronic horns of the emergency response vehicles. Drivers are cocooned inside their vehicles.

Add to that the inside noise from the radio, the air conditioner, the heater, the defroster and conversations with passengers, and too often a driver doesn’t hear the emergency vehicle until it is so close that proper action is difficult or even impossible.

For the NBC story, reporters rode along with multiple emergency responders, and every one of them said they had been on some call where a life could have been saved had they arrived on the scene sooner.

With all the distractions to which a driver is subjected, including cellphones and other electronic devices, the importance of drivers being alert at all times is critical. Even if you can’t hear the siren of an emergency vehicle behind you, if you check your rear-view mirror frequently, you could see it approaching from behind. An alert driver will also scan all crossroads at intersections and will be in a better position to see an emergency vehicle about to cross his/her path.

Properly yielding to an emergency vehicle will only take you a few seconds, but if all drivers gave the emergency responders room to continue without delay, they could arrive at the scene sooner, and lives could be saved.