Paramedics cruise on Harleys
Firefighter paramedics on Harleys can zip through traffic much quicker than a firetruck, potentially saving lives. And they look cool doing it.

Lt. Charles Perdomo, foreground, and firefighter Johnny Suarez are 'motor medics.'

Traffic in Miami is bad. Really bad. Year after year, the rage-inspiring clogged roadways make headlines. But while driving in South Florida is a chore for the common commuter, for Miami-Dade fire rescue, it's a matter of life and death.

The department has found an answer: pairing up firefighter paramedics, issuing them motorcycles, dressing them in reflective air-bag vests, equipping them with a trove of life-saving equipment and freeing them to roam the streets.

When their radios crackle with word of a crash, a shooting or a heart attack, they weave through cars at speeds ranging from 20 to 90 miles an hour to get there.

The result? The county's four full-time Motorcycle Emergency Response Team members not only beat civilian traffic, they usually trump their truck-riding colleagues, typically by three minutes, sometimes up to five, responding to everything from a child's cut finger to the recent fatal police shooting in Southwest Dade.

It is one of a few full-time programs of its kind in the country.

''There was some apprehension at first,'' said Lt. Charles Perdomo, 38, one of the riders. ``The concept is brand new. It's still in its infancy. But the crews see us now, and we're out there every day -- they've grown to know us and to depend on us.''

Depend they do: On a recent Tuesday, the firefighters responded to a house fire (arriving at the same time as a fire engine), a car crash on the turnpike (beating the fire engines and the Florida Highway Patrol by four minutes) and a heart attack.

Because they were on bikes less than 40 inches wide as opposed to trucks -- the narrowest of which is 10 feet wide -- the ''motor medics'' were able to zigzag through the cars and zip down narrow shoulders.

''We're trying to buy as much time as possible for the patients,'' said Capt. Roman Bas, who runs the program. ``The fire stations have what they call a fixed response. We have a dynamic response. We're already moving. It gives us an advantage.''

``We do things on-duty. We do things off-duty. We have our own sense of brotherhood.''

Read the rest.....

Now if only Miami could decide on which country's traffic laws to obey.....