Ever clip a sign?

[Chief1C]

We've hit a deer, responding L&S at full speed, totally creamed the brush guard, and tore the deer in half. Literally. Coming home from a late night call, I was asleep, heard the back up alarm then.. WHAM. We had the bay door folded around the back side of the ambulance. Pulled ahead, and the whole deal collapsed, throwing springs and pieces of gears all over the station.

Funny story, not an ambulance;

Back in the day, before half our town was turned into a parking lot; there was benches along the street. I was sitting there, talking to my barber. There was a garbage truck across the street. He pulled forward, got pinned on a stop sign, backed up, bent it over, pulled forward, bent it the other way. Backed up again, snapped it off at the ground, pulled forward, hit the curb, back up, blew one tire on what was left of the sign post. Backed up farther, off the curb, and... down onto the sign post, blowing another tire.

[Don1977]

I was not driving that day, but my "Caddy-lance" hit a seagull in midflight, with the beacon-light. Had a devil of a time explaining that to my employer.

...And I am asking how that poster hit a couch with the side mirror!

How? HOW? HOW? HOW?

I said dont ask....lol

we were going down a 2 lane road, well the road has a turning lane in it to go up hill towards our base, well we were goingto go in that lane and a car came real close almost side swiping us she swerved over to side and BOOM! went the mirror.............we figured the mirror was a better choice then side of the truck....and the couch was on the edge of the sidewalk and too close to roadway, the people living there got yelled at by PD., it was funny when we got to the base because our manager and supervisor were too busy laughung at her as she was in tears telling what happened.....

[firedoc5]

A few times had close calls. Like when going through a construction zone that had high barricades and the guy driving yelled at me, "MIRRORS!". Had just enough time to reach out and pull my mirror in.

One idiot, a complete one at that, was driving to a coal mine call. When he turned in he hit a chain link fence with the mirror. He looked at the other guy and said, "You see that mirror fall off?". Yea it fell off, those gate posts don't move.

[jsadin]

Ripped a dog run out of a tree once. It was high enough that you couldn't see it and the two cruisers ahead of us pulled in just fine (suicide attempt). Just caught the top of the box and it made a hellacious sound when the tensioner bounced off the side.

Almost forgot; took out all the side lights on the box due to an overhanging tree and heavy fog. Couldn't see the tree due to the fog and it was just at the right angle to bust every light cover and bend the snot out of the exhaust vent. Nothing like calling your fire chief at 11:30pm to tell him that one.

[Christopher.Collins]

And the other question I have is where are you working that allows someone 18 years old to drive? I"m just curious

I worked for an agency that hired at 18... the kid I kept working with before I transfered to a mostly ALS shift constantly dozed off behind the wheel. Not to mention here in CT you dont have a legal drivers license untill you are 18. Newbie drivers + lights and sirens and a patient = bad bad idea. Of course retention in this company is incredably poor and the hire people other agencies wont. They even cut their paramedic class down to about 7 months to attract new hires.

[Christopher.Collins]

I've hit 2 girls and a cup.

[Richard B the EMT]

I'd add all the bugs we've creamed just driving in any vehicle, including POVs.

How many millions?

Unfortunately, there's several more million bugs to be hit.

As a former manager of mine used to say,

Some days you're the bug, other days, you're the windshield.

[jbullfrog09]

lets see,

i hit the bay door forgetting it was partially open when a call came in.(rookie, volly)

i had a minor fender bender responding lights and sirens when an elderly man realized i was behind him and he slammed on the brakes in front of me to stop in the middle of the road.(still on first card, paid)

i did hit a sign and many curbs ( 1st card, volly and paid)

I've hit deer, squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, opossums, and even a porcupine( we have a lot of wooded areas, volly and paid)

i hit the pole in the garage with the mirror on a van ambulance( 2nd card, paid)

and finally i backed my ambulance into a telephone pole( 3rd card, paid)

and every time i have been razzed and teased about these incidents, let alone threatened by management, and had driving privileges suspended. my advice, accidents happen, it is statistically probable that in this profession you will get into an accident. you cover so many miles, have big flashy distractions, adrenaline, radios, cell phones, stupid drivers(the other vehicles), and lack of sleep that are all working against you. unfortunately there is no amount of driver training that can prevent the inevitable conclusion that an accident will happen. driver training is great, don't get me wrong but sometimes people don't know how easy it is to get into an accident with an ambulance.

ambulance accidents happen every day some even hit the news

ems news network

but a lot are not reported so when you hit your sign, curb, or deer remember you not he only one just be more care full next time.

and every one be safe out there, slow down, buckle up, and stay off the those cell phones when driving! you can't save any one if your the one who's hurt

[JakeEMTP]

lets see,

i hit the bay door forgetting it was partially open when a call came in.(rookie, volly)

i had a minor fender bender responding lights and sirens when an elderly man realized i was behind him and he slammed on the brakes in front of me to stop in the middle of the road.(still on first card, paid)

i did hit a sign and many curbs ( 1st card, volly and paid)

I've hit deer, squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, opossums, and even a porcupine( we have a lot of wooded areas, volly and paid)

i hit the pole in the garage with the mirror on a van ambulance( 2nd card, paid)

and finally i backed my ambulance into a telephone pole( 3rd card,

Are you serious? I know you wouldn't be working for us with a track record like your's. Obviously you missed my post. I drove much bigger vehicles than ambulances almost 2 million miles and never even scratched a bumper.

You really need to focus. Be aware of your surroundings. If you're driving, that is your focus. Screw the cell phone. If it's really important, they'll leave a message. If you rear ended someone who slammed on their brakes, you were to close. There are no accidents, only collisions. While you're correct in saying the odds of getting into a collision increase with the amount of miles driven, remember it is always somebodies fault.

[dougd]

Clipped a mailbox on the side of the road with the right side mirror once. It was a narrow road without curbs or sidewalks and orange barrels in the middle of the street to close off the left turn lane at the upcoming intersection - I was a bit too focused on the barrels and allowed myself to get too far to the right. No damage to either the mirror or the mailbox, I just grazed it and was traveling slowly at the time. Still, a rather butt puckering experience when you hear that "thwap." :shock: