Paramedics May Segue to Segways

By Matt Wood in News on Nov 10, 2005 4:48PM

Citing longer response times due to increased congestion downtown, the city fire department is considering having paramedics use Segway scooters. Emergency response times have risen thirty seconds over the first part of the year because of more buildings and construction projects downtown and increased congestion around Millennium Park.

Anytime Chicagoist sees an ambulance or fire truck struggling to cut through traffic, we cross our fingers and hope we never have a coronary downtown. No matter how freaking loud those sirens are, some cabbie always thinks he has time to pull off a red-light left turn in front of them. Any way to improve first responder time is a Good Thing. But Segways? Even if the city got a big discount, those things aren't cheap. Perfectly good mountain bikes would cost less than a quarter of what a Segway does, and there's no hassle of recharging them. The department could outfit bikes with the same kind of first aid gear they could put on a Segway, plus bikes can go a whole lot faster. What, are they going to put sirens on them so they can cut through the crowds?

Chicagoist admits that we've always wanted to take a spin on a Segway, but we can't see much practical use for them beyond tourist trips along the lakefront. Have you ever seen someone on a Segway that you didn't want to push over? So maybe we'd cut them some slack if we knew they were saving lives, but this just has bad, expensive idea written all over it.