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Driving Code Three In A Fire

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In the fire service, one of the most dangerous activities we do every shift is drive code three (lights and sirens). It seems as though every response requires code three, screaming down the road with lights and sirens, blasting the air horn like it has extraordinary power to move vehicles out of the way. On this occasion, the call is for an elderly male suffering a heart attack. From a utilitarianism, standpoint is driving code three the appropriate action? Utilitarianism is taking the morally right action that “produces the greatest overall positive consequences for everyone” (Hinman, 2013, p. 124). From this point of view, it does not appear that risking the lives of the firefighters and the public to attempt to save one person is a valid moral decision. However, the utilitarian maintains the actions should produce the greatest overall utility, determined by weighing consequences, acts, rules, and practice (Hinman, 2013). The most common version of utilitarianism is always to perform the action that will maximize the greatest results or act utilitarianism (Hinman, 2013). …show more content…

However, the actual vs. foreseeable consequences dispute indicates the firefighters should determine the action that has the highest level of expected utility and then act accordingly. In this case, driving code three in the middle of the night suggest there will be minimal traffic resulting in diminished risk to the public, therefore, warrant driving code three. Unfortunately, this could turn out to be the wrong action when a single car runs a stop sign and collides with the fire

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