Scenario: You are a baseball player. You’re pretty with throwing that 5 ounce ball, getting it to other players the vast majority of the time. Rarely do you miss or drop it. One day, the coach brings out the regulation baseballs. These weigh 23 ounces — that’s about 1.43 pounds. They’re about 3 times bigger too.
Might your throw accuracy be affected? Probably quite a bit, right? At least for awhile. What about if the scenario was that the balls were switched out on game day? That would be just crazy, right?
Yet we don’t think twice about putting drivers behind the wheel of an ambulance. Compact cars like a Honda Civic weigh about 3000 pounds; ambulances weigh anywhere between 9000 and 14,000 pounds — or more.
The baseball scenario doesn’t fully apply to ambulances either. A higher center of gravity, decreased braking performance, and poor steering response all worsen the issue.
Then, the the vast majority of the industry does not train its personnel how to drive these vehicles. I’ve worked in places that “driver training” was an insurance ploy — fill out a workbook, spend 15 minutes driving around a couple of cones, and get a certificate. Very helpful, except that none of it related to real world hazard driving.
In fact, we place high value on the need for speed. Despite all studies showing how little — or no — effect there is on response times to even critical calls, we still drive with lights and siren blazing to virtually every call. Government contracts enforce that mindset, unwittingly placing members of the driving public at risk every day.
We have to stop this insane behavior and grow up. It’s not fair to us, our patients and our community and place everyone at risk of serious injury or death. Provide the education and training that makes even a 19-year-old a safer driver. Severely punish those who flagrantly flaunt the rules because they think they can do better (hint: physics has a nasty way of reminding one that is so not the case). Stop writing response time contract requirements that sets the stage for unwarranted risk-taking.
By the way, how did the patient get ejected from the ambulance — in a head on collision? The kinematics forces involved just don’t make sense. One would hope that the patient was properly restrained on the gurney, and the gurney was properly fitted to the locking mechanism, and the lock was properly fastened to the floor. I imagine there might be some serious explaining to do.
