My Driving Sucks
- Thread starter captaindargo
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one word, MIRRORS!
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captaindargo said:my first day on the job sucked.... my driving sucked, i couldn't back up and i was so nervous.... what can i do to be a better driver...
i always sucked too. i went from driving a honda civic to a ford F350-powerstroke diesel...needless to say, it was an adjustment. so, in order to remedy the situation, i went to paramedic school...my place was in the back, not the drivers seat!
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There is a course on driving (it was called EVOC - Emergency Vehicle Operations Course - when I took it back in the 90s) that many agencies offer. You get instruction and then spend a lot of time driving an ambulance around a parking lot between cones. It would probably help.captaindargo said:my first day on the job sucked.... my driving sucked
I cut my teeth driving fire engines and after that ambis were easier. If you have the opportunity drive the engines some. Always volunteer to move the rigs in and out of the bays for maintenance and fueling and so on. Take your time. Watch your mirrors and lines. Practice in your car. Point your center mirror at the floor so you don't cheat and back down the lines in a deserted parking lot. Grab a few cones and practice with them.
While you're improving always use a backer (if your agency requires it or not). It's a lot less embarrassing to ask your partner to back you up than it is to ask him to help you apply bondo.
It's actually good that you realize that this is an issue for you. You will get better as you gain experience. The really dangerous guys are the ones who don't realize how bad they are. I came to that realization years ago while listening to a guy assert that the line on the floor was crooked (it had been there for >10 years) and thats what made him back the pumper through the kitchen door.
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Its cool man, we're all nervous when we start driving the ambulances. It makes it worse when you've got a touchy partner who complains about every bump and sharp turn. If you have the chance to, try to find an understanding partner who is willing to accept that you are learning and lets a few things slide. I've been doing this for 5 years but I still get nervous about bumps and turning speeds when I know I have a touchy medic in back. It helps ALOT to have a good partner to both let the small stuff go, and to help point you in the right direction (in both senses of the phrase! lol) when you need it.
Backing up is another skill that will come with time, but just remember to always use your mirrors, and try not to be too nervous. The vans really arent THAT much bigger than your regular car, the process is the same except you need to be much more diligent about your side mirrors (although after driving ambulance for a while I find myself always using side mirrors in my regular car as well-- never realised how useful they are!! lol).
You'll get it man! 😀
Backing up is another skill that will come with time, but just remember to always use your mirrors, and try not to be too nervous. The vans really arent THAT much bigger than your regular car, the process is the same except you need to be much more diligent about your side mirrors (although after driving ambulance for a while I find myself always using side mirrors in my regular car as well-- never realised how useful they are!! lol).
You'll get it man! 😀
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fiznat said:
I agree totally. I was sweating bullets the first time I went from driving my compact car to driving an ambulance during training...it becomes super easy once you're used to it though, and the ultimate key is USE YOUR MIRRORS! 🙂
I also use my side mirrors almost exclusively when in my own car now...except for the fact that I don't have the bubble mirrors in the corner to check right behind me, so if I'm not sure I still shoulder check. The side mirrors work well for parking as well, to back yourself up into a lane perfectly in the centre.
Practice makes as much of a difference as anything else you can do once you've mastered the basics. Set up a course with traffic cones and practice backing through them without knocking any of them down. If you're connected with a fire department, learn to back up the fire apparatus. Doing that will make the ambulance seem easy. The other thing is to use a ground guide whenever possible -- preferably your partner. Our depth perception when using mirrors or looking over the shoulder is at its worst, and it's easy to misjudge distances and clearance. You'll probably start out feeling like you're about to run over whatever is behind you, only to discover that it's still ten feet away. Perfectly normal...
One mirror tip that I never knew before driving the ambulance...look first and then look again in the mirror leaning forward and you'll see a bit different stuff/more (if somebody else can explain that better go ahead). Also if you are not sure of the directions of where you are driving and your partner is telling you how to drive, especially if they know where they are going tell them to let u know which lane to be in ahead of time.
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On our ambulance when we back we are suposed to use a backer. If there is any chance you might hit something, have your partner get out and back you. (pretty simple, they point which way to turn the wheel and hold up a fist when you need to stop.) It can be embarressing to ask someone to back you but it is much better than writting up the IR after you hit some dudes Lexis.captaindargo said:my first day on the job sucked.... my driving sucked
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Nothing wrong with using a backer. I've never argued if my driver (I don't drive yet due to just becoming old enough for insurance... not really looking forward to it...) needed me to back and its not something I would get mad at.
At my company we're "required" to use a backer. 9 times out of 10 we don't use one outside unless the driver feels the need to use one. It is made clear that if we're caught that both the driver and the attendent will be written up. We recently had a person fired because of this. Actually it was because the person wasn't a driver (not driver trained nor was on the insurance), but was caught backing up with out a backer. The assigned driver got a 3 day unpaid "vacation."
At my company we're "required" to use a backer. 9 times out of 10 we don't use one outside unless the driver feels the need to use one. It is made clear that if we're caught that both the driver and the attendent will be written up. We recently had a person fired because of this. Actually it was because the person wasn't a driver (not driver trained nor was on the insurance), but was caught backing up with out a backer. The assigned driver got a 3 day unpaid "vacation."
a few good general tips came from the evoc class. some are
--drive calmly at a reasonable speed, without getting emotional in relation to the call.
--at a light intersection with two "green arrow" left-turn lanes, stay in the right-most lane--in general, you have a better view overall on the driver's side of the vehicle, and so you can better see turning traffic to the left of the vehicle.
--keep a lot of space between vehicles. i forget the exact rule, but on the interstate you will want to keep something like 50 feet behind the vehicle in front of you, even more if you can't see much in front of that vehicle. yes, people will cut in front of you, causing you to back up even further. but people will try to do that anyway when your less than ten feet behind a vehicle, which is why you should be even further back to avoid braking suddenly. people won't necessarily give you driving respect just because you're an ambulance, so drive with caution.
--"cover your brake" with your right foot (without pressing it) when you don't need to accelerate and braking potential is present (other cars, traffic lights). this cuts down your overall braking time substantially.
--in many states, drivers never yield their right-of-way to emergency vehicles, even though they can choose not to proceed with their right-of-way and let an emergency vehicle proceed. this means it can be your fault if you hit a car at an intersection without the right-of-way, no matter that you were proceeding lights and sirens! so cross intersections carefully when you don't have right-of-way, one lane at a time, being very careful to establish that the front vehicle at each lane is letting you proceed without right-of-way.
you will get used to driving these things. i was used to small cars, so what really helped me was when i made use of the fact that there is a sort of "pivot point" on the side of the rig at the rear tires (on small cars, this point is too close to the back of the car to be useful). so when you're making a turn (esp. tight ones), your rear tires will tell you the point around which the ambulance with rotate.
and yes, side mirrors are your friend, and be very careful backing up. without a spotter, you can never be sure what's behind you.
--drive calmly at a reasonable speed, without getting emotional in relation to the call.
--at a light intersection with two "green arrow" left-turn lanes, stay in the right-most lane--in general, you have a better view overall on the driver's side of the vehicle, and so you can better see turning traffic to the left of the vehicle.
--keep a lot of space between vehicles. i forget the exact rule, but on the interstate you will want to keep something like 50 feet behind the vehicle in front of you, even more if you can't see much in front of that vehicle. yes, people will cut in front of you, causing you to back up even further. but people will try to do that anyway when your less than ten feet behind a vehicle, which is why you should be even further back to avoid braking suddenly. people won't necessarily give you driving respect just because you're an ambulance, so drive with caution.
--"cover your brake" with your right foot (without pressing it) when you don't need to accelerate and braking potential is present (other cars, traffic lights). this cuts down your overall braking time substantially.
--in many states, drivers never yield their right-of-way to emergency vehicles, even though they can choose not to proceed with their right-of-way and let an emergency vehicle proceed. this means it can be your fault if you hit a car at an intersection without the right-of-way, no matter that you were proceeding lights and sirens! so cross intersections carefully when you don't have right-of-way, one lane at a time, being very careful to establish that the front vehicle at each lane is letting you proceed without right-of-way.
you will get used to driving these things. i was used to small cars, so what really helped me was when i made use of the fact that there is a sort of "pivot point" on the side of the rig at the rear tires (on small cars, this point is too close to the back of the car to be useful). so when you're making a turn (esp. tight ones), your rear tires will tell you the point around which the ambulance with rotate.
and yes, side mirrors are your friend, and be very careful backing up. without a spotter, you can never be sure what's behind you.
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