Oklahoma to become first in nation to use ground-moving siren

Does everyone remember that iconic T-rex scene in the beginning of the 1993 blockbuster "Jurassic Park" " you know the one, where the car has stopped by the empty T-rex enclosure and all is silent, too silent? But then, just barely audible, you hear a low, reverberating thump "¦ then another one. The camera pans to the water rippling ominously with every new thump and you just know it's all about the hit the fan.

That same attention-getting maneuver has been adopted by Oklahoma largest ambulance company, according to an Associated Press story. Instead of going the more interesting route and replicating dinosaurs from DNA found trapped inside amber, they've developed a low-frequency siren that causes that same rippling effect " something you'll not only hear, but feel.

Called Howler sirens, ambulances in Oklahoma will be the first in the nation to install the system. The Emergency Medical Services Authority plans to have them up and howling " or, more appropriately, thumping " in all 77 of their vehicles within six months, according to the story.

EMSA spokesperson Tina Wells said drivers that don't pull over " maybe because their music is up way too loud " cause accidents with ambulances every year; so far this year, there have been 16 accidents at intersections and 15 of those involved an ambulance that was on call.

"The most frequent thing motorists say to us is they didn't see the ambulance coming," Wells said.

But with the new system, that won't be a problem anymore, said Mike Avery, a Tulsa police officer.

"It's going to make going through intersections much safer," Avery said. "People are on their cell phones, people have $1,000 sound systems. You're going to feel it."

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