The EMT, an Ambulance and Some Cub Scouts

What is your reaction when you see an ambulance barreling down the road at you, lights flashing and siren wailing?

Does your heart leap into your throat and your blood pressure soar?

Do you pull over (like you’re supposed to) to the right and wait until the ambulance passes?

Or, do you ignore the excitement and carry on, oblivious to someone’s medical need?

We’ve had a lot of these discussions since my daughter became an EMT 18 months ago.

She’d like you to pull over responsibly and let her get to a hospital.

(This is a public service announcement.)

We’ve been discussing ambulance driving lately because my favorite EMT recently toured me and some cub scouts around a brand new ambulance.

As my personal experience with an ambulance was stressful, I enjoyed a leisurely examination!

This particular ambulance soon will be in service for the Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford. It’s state of the art and I hope no children I know will ever need it.

On this particular day, however, I knew almost all the children clambering in and out!

Lights and Sirens

My daughter is an EMT for PRN Ambulance. She’s based in southern California; we visited sister company PT-1 in Northern California that day.

While the rigs she drives are not as new as this one, the features are similar–she had no problems operating anything.

The cab looks like a normal van’s interior, except for all the special features which run the lights and sirens.

She allowed the cub scouts with whom I toured the rig, to turn the flashing lights on and off.

The sirens made us jump!

Interesting equipment

The boys liked the DVD player and small television located above the back door.

As this particular vehicle is designed to transport children, the television’s purpose is to entertain them, particularly if they travel long distances to the specialized hospital at Stanford.

Our EMT demonstrated locking devices to clamp the gurney into place, the sliding window between the transporting section and the cab, and all the equipment used to monitor a patient.

The boys were interested in more mundane tools: the carrying gurney, blood pressure cuff and how EMTs  splint a broken arm!

While the cub scouts enjoyed their visit, the lights and sirens were their favorite feature.

All the parents agreed, they’d prefer this field trip be the only time their cub scouts climb into an ambulance.

Sounds like a great idea to me!

Thanks, PT-1 of Rohnert Park.

Tweetables

An EMT, an ambulance and some cub scouts. Click to Tweet

Pull to the right or speed when an ambulance heads your way? Click to Tweet

Why does an ambulance need a TV and a DVD player? Click to Tweet