I can’t imagine anything more embarrassing for an EMS provider than to be pulled over for not wearing a seatbelt. May 18-31 is the nationwide 
seatbelt enforcement campaign.
Here are 5 Everyday EMS Tips reasons to wear your seatbelt in the front AND rear compartment of the ambulance, as well as your privately owned vehicle:
1. Role model safety and injury prevention behavior to patients and students.
2. Protect yourself from becoming a flying projectile in case of a sudden stop or collision.
3. Ensure that other safety devices, like airbags function as they are designed to function.
4. Reduce your risk of fatality from a crash by greater than 50%
5. Prevent yourself becoming injured in the back of the ambulance if the driver is forced to make a sudden stop.
These are some additional facts from the CDC Click It or Ticket website. About 2.7 million motor vehicle occupants are injured in crashes in the United States each year. When it comes to staying safe on the road, consider that:
- In 2007, 41,059 people lost their lives in motor vehicle crashes, including motor vehicle occupants, pedestrians, and motorcyclists. This is an average of 112 deaths a day, or a death every 13 minutes.
- Of those who were killed in crashes, 70% were occupants of passenger vehicles.
- An estimated 15,147 lives (of those age 5 and over) were saved in 2007 as a result of seat belt use.
