Partygoers confused by paramedics on bicycles

• Paramedics use bicycles with sirens
• Bikes will be amongst NYE crowds
• People confused about how to react

CONFUSED partygoers have been getting in the way of the paramedics who rush to emergencies on bicycles complete with sirens wailing and lights flashing.

Two teams of bicycle paramedics will be sent to New Year's Eve celebrations in Adelaide and the nearby beachside suburb of Glenelg to allow for a quicker response to any emergencies among the predicted big crowds.

While the paramedics have been on bikes since 2007, the South Australian Ambulance Service admits many people are still confused when they see bicycle paramedics in a crowd and do not understand they still need to give way.

"If you see these bike paramedics with lights and sirens, please move out of the way because they are on their way to a medical emergency," spokeswoman Judith Baker said.

"In an emergency, seconds count. Our bicycle paramedics are able to get to patients at large public gatherings faster than a traditional ambulance as they are easier to maneuver through dense pedestrian traffic."
Working in pairs, the paramedics and intensive care paramedics respond to life-threatening emergencies, carrying kits including oxygen and defibrillators to treat seizures, heart attacks and collapses.

Intensive care paramedic Alice Rowlands said: "The difficulty we find is if we come up behind a crowd people are unsure what the sound is and tend not to give way."

"It sounds different from an ambulance, it's a fairly high-pitched squeal. It's just getting people used to what we do. Once they understand, they respond very positively."