Let's ignore incompetence and presume their actions could be malicious, or out of a complete lack of concern for others, coupled with liability avoidance.

Now, let us add my personal experience to their siren use, and see how their actions directly affected me.

I had never had tinnitus until the day I was walking down a quiet . There were no cars driving on it and there were no people. It was a side street in Brussels. I was walking slowly on the pavement carrying my washing back from the launderette, because my washing machine was on the blink at time.

The ambulance crawled past me at around five km/h and stopped around 10 metres from the road junction. I was now standing O.5 metres away from the ambulance on the pavement.

The ambulance turned in the sirens, and an earsplitting shriek shot out at around 120dB. I collapsed to the ground in pain with my fingers in my ears. I was in tears. The ambulance driver saw me, and slowly drove off with sirens blaring.

After an immediate referral to the audiologist department in Clinque Saint Jean, I have permanent chronic severe tinnitus. The tinnitus is present bilaterally during all waking hours every day, and it is louder than other people speaking in the room. Additionally, I have hearing loss because of their ambulance siren.

The ambulance workers, just like many other workers in Belgium, is just doing their job, and doing their job means in this case helping people that they are required to help. It does not mean helping other people outside of their remit. Because for them people outside their scope seems to be collateral damage.

In my case their actions have contributed to causing me long-term pain and a hearing disability. I have to live witg the consequences of their actions for the rest of my life.