Mini-Ethnography of Infrastructure: Emergency Assistance

This is a mini-ethnography of Emergency Assistance in a large urban area using Star's framework:

Embeddedness: Emergency Assistance is sunk deep into other structures and social arrangements and technologies.  It is not easy to distinguish the subcomponents of emergency assistance.  The way in which telecommunications, policy and practice all work to support this infrastructure.  Take for instance the way in which new drivers are repeatedly taught to stop and pull over for emergency sirens.  In some parts of the world even traffic lights are preprogrammed to allow emergency assistance vehicles to have a direct and safe route to emergencies   Some governments receive real time GPS data from emergency vehicles and this information is sent to traffic control to ensure that all traffic lights turn red when emergency vehicles approach intersections leading to less collisions.  Many drivers don't think about this type of coordination and embeddedness.  
Transparency: Drivers view stopping for emergency vehicles as natural.  They do so because they have been taught to do so as part of their driving tests as well as because of the potential punitive tickets and fines of failing to stop for emergency vehicles.
Reach or Scope:This infrastructural has reach and scope because the same or similar procedures  signals and sounds are used each time throughout the city and throughout time.  
Learned as Part of Membership: Strangers and outsiders who have leaned to drive in urban areas where drivers are not taught to stop for emergency vehicles must learn to stop.  They must learn to listen and look for sirens and stop appropriately for emergency vehicles.
Links with Conventions of Practice: Stopping for emergency vehicles is linked to various government policies, practices and laws. Drivers stop for emergency vehicles not out of the goodness of their heart but because they are legislated to do so and failing to do so results in punitive fines, demerit points or jail time.  This practice is shaped and shapes the law.
Embodiment of Standards: As I mentioned before emergency vehicles stopping embodies many standards especially in policies, practices and laws.  Emergency vehicles must meet time quotas and people in need of assistance is important within society.  This is reflected in policies, practices, and laws that help emergency vehicles get to people in need quickly.   
Built on an Installed Base: As I mentioned before this infrastructure is constantly changing with some urban areas looking for ways that GPS and ICT can help reduce accidents and help emergency vehicles reach their destination safely.  There are strengths to and limitations of the practice but these limitations can never be fully addressed because it is hard for officials to radically change the procedure for emergency vehicles, they can only improve and evolve from the base.
Becomes Visible Upon Breakdown: Urban residents take for granted emergency service but when large scale emergencies happen and emergency vehicles cannot perform properly emergency service becomes visible.
Is Fixed in Modular Increments, (not all at once or globally): As I have mentioned before changes to emergency vehicle procedures take time and negotiation from areas of government, policy, standards and practices. No one is in charge of this infrastructure it is affected by multiple levels of government and area residents, and lobby groups.