# GPS in Ambulances



## intoashes83 (Oct 18, 2007)

I need some help or tips. I am the engineer for my squad. I have been given the task of installing our GPS systems in the rig so they cannot be stolen. Someone else has previously installed these but they are lower than the dashboard and constantly lose signal and are dangerous in the location they are in due to having to take your eyes off the road to see it. Does anyone have experience mounting these without worrying about them getting stolen? Please, if you have any ideas let me know.


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## KEVD18 (Oct 19, 2007)

i like it centered in front of me as low on the dash as it can be. then its a quick look straight down to lookt at it then back at the road. as far as stolen, teach your crews to lock your trucks and that isnt a problem.

theres a service in my area that runs over a hundred trucks, many in bad neighborhoods. every truck has a gps. they lock their truck. their gps's dont get stolen


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## disassociative (Oct 19, 2007)

I built a C# interfacing controller with our GPS systems; linked them to ToughBooks and made an entirely voice-activated system on Vista over a secure military grade(triple blowfish) downlink. 


The GPS; through the Vista enabled terminal would announce commands such as
"Turn Left here", "Go Straight for 0.3 miles". It would also accept commands through voice recognition.  Worked out quite well, because I threw on a tracing chip to the board of the laptop in case it was stolen.


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## Jon (Oct 19, 2007)

Is the concern EXTERNAL theft or INTERNAL theft? if it is EXTERNAL theft, then your crews need to lock the friggin' trucks. If it is INTERNAL theft... then you need to find different crews.

My one service has a few GPS units on the sandbag mounting pads (so that they don't move around and sit on the dash). The units are used in the CCT trucks only, and can be removed from the rig or stowed under a seat if needed. I don't think they've ever been stolen.

As for a suggestion - the above mentioned service installed 12V cell phone chargers in every rig... they are held in place with a plastic bracket attached next to the ciggarette lighter with a pop rivet through the plastic. You could probably rig some sort of retention cable between the GPS and the dashboard.


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## wolfwyndd (Oct 19, 2007)

Why not just get a lojack?  Wouldn't that be easier?


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## Rattletrap (Oct 19, 2007)

what kind of gps? the ones we have have a jack for an external antenna. made by garmin.


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## intoashes83 (Oct 19, 2007)

the main concern they have is internal theft. I myself doubt that they will be internally stolen, but alas, the squad wants them locked into place on the rig. I am lost as a way to mount them. They wont let me drill through the dash, but they want it permanantly mounted.


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## jrm818 (Oct 19, 2007)

choice a: get non-criminal employees.   Seriously it's pretty bad when you have to be worrying about stuff like this - there is a bit of responsibility that should go along with working in EMS.

Choice b: a really good adhesive.  I konw 3M's 5200 marine adhesive is strong enough that anyone who wanted the GPS would be taking the dashboard with them.  I'm sure they make an appropriate non-marine (aka cheaper) adhesive.

choice C: similar - get an anti-theft cable that attaches to the device and dashboard with a stron adhesive.  examples: http://www.avanquest.co.uk/pcguardiananti-theft/desktopsecurity.html

i'm sure you could find whatever you need on amazon.


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## intoashes83 (Oct 20, 2007)

jrm818 said:


> choice a: get non-criminal employees.   Seriously it's pretty bad when you have to be worrying about stuff like this - there is a bit of responsibility that should go along with working in EMS.
> 
> Choice b: a really good adhesive.  I konw 3M's 5200 marine adhesive is strong enough that anyone who wanted the GPS would be taking the dashboard with them.  I'm sure they make an appropriate non-marine (aka cheaper) adhesive.
> 
> ...



This is a volunteer org I am doing this for. Sadly it is this way around here. Nobody is in it for what it is, they are all power hungry and want to be the leader. They dont care about the main reason being the pt. They just want a title. The respect for the squad has been long thrown out the door.


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## Flight-LP (Oct 20, 2007)

Why not get map books and actually learn the district? Then you can save the money for not buying an uneeded item. Take that money and put it towards becoming a paid service...........................


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## JerzEmt (Oct 25, 2007)

We have the GPS in our rigs hard mounted in front of the Shotgun/Partner. The driver dosen't touch the unit, his/her partner plug in the address, then navigates to the pt. telling the driver about upcoming turns, etc. Same as if we had maps. 
If you need to use it to go to the hospital, turn on the little voice.
But I would guess once you get there, you will be able to find your way to any ED you need..


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