SNCH marks ambulance quiet zone with signs

Responding to concerns raised by local residents, South Nassau Communities Hospital, in partnership with SeniorCare EMS, have placed signs marking the perimeter of the hospital’s ambulance quiet zone. The signs serve as a reminder for ambulance drivers to turn off their sirens as they approach the hospital.

The zone had long been demarcated in the hospital’s regulations, according to SNCH Spokesman Joe Caldarone, but in consultation with South Nassau’s various ambulance services, hospital officials decided to place signs as a reminder to new or otherwise busy emergency medical technicians as they approach the area.

“We’re always trying to be sensitive,” he said. “We know that we’re in a residential community and when our neighbors raise something, we try to address the issue however we can.” He said that although SNCH already mandated that nearby ambulances shut off their sirens, hospital officials and SeniorCare — South Nassau’s primary ambulance company — discussed additional solutions to the noise complaints.

Footing the bill, SeniorCare officials agreed that placing signs would be a good idea and promised to remind their own drivers to respect the quiet zone. “We’re hoping [the signs] will have an impact and serve as a reminder to the paramedics and first responders of every rank, that as they approach South Nassau, if they could just cut their sirens as they approach,” Caldarone said.