# The things you've broken/crashed



## MMiz (Jun 25, 2007)

Over the years I've made quite a few judgment errors in EMS...

I backed the rig into a huge cement pillar/wall.  You should have seen th room I had to turn around, but somehow I hit the most obscure pillar.  That dented the truck.
Knocked a patient's flower pot off the porch and crushed it with the stretcher.
Dropped my pager far too many times... but it refuses to die.
*What have you broken/crashed?*


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## Epi-do (Jun 25, 2007)

I've dropped several radios, but none have broken.  The only thing I can think of that I have done any damage to was the dog that I hit, and while it didn't hurt the bus, it was fatal for the dog.  I figure if I drop my cell phone a few more times, it will eventually stop working.


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## Alexakat (Jun 26, 2007)

Hmmmm... I recently dropped my cell phone in the toilet at the station.  I know...really gross!

I wear it in a little case on my belt & while in the stall one early, early morning, after a long call, the weight of the phone pulled it off the belt & smack into the toilet.  Ewwww.  Toilet phone...needless to mention, it was fried beyond repair.

My new phone gets hooked to my pants (not just the belt) & I take it off before I even enter the stall, just to be 100% sure.

I haven't had any mishaps with patient belongings yet...& no crashing any vehicles...


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## daemonicusxx (Jun 28, 2007)

are we talking inentionally or unintentionally broken. 

-Broke a nexthell once. they make great soccer balls at the grocery store. i told them that i was attempting to put it in my thigh pocket as we were pulling the stretcher out, phone slipped and the wheels dropped on it, they believed me.
-Broke the gas cap off the ambulance, mechanic had attached it with a chain that wouldnt allow it to twist back on,  so i kicked it hoping the chain would break but the cap broke instead. i told them that i didnt know my own strength.
-got rear-ended the other day. not too bad though.

those are the recent ones, i cant remember too far back.


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## TraumaJunkie (Jun 28, 2007)

I broke the shelf with my shoulder when i was teching a patient. My partner was driving like a bat out of hell glare: i have no clue why because we were going in to the hospital on a 2) and slammed on the brakes; sending me flying from the bench into the shelves by the opening to the cab of the ambulance. I ended up landing in the step well with the AED, O2 bag, jump kit, and the suction unit on top of me. That was a funny one to explain to the supervisor:lol:.


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## Tincanfireman (Jun 28, 2007)

My trusty little Moto cell phone dropped out of it's holster while I was climbing into my truck during a response.  5 oz. of cell phone did not do well against a 44,000 lb airport crash vehicle.  New phone, new holster


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## Emtgirl21 (Jun 28, 2007)

I was trying to back the ambulance out of the wash bay and around the supervisor expedition on ice......I hit the supervisors expeditions. I have also dropped my cellphone in the toliet  but it still works. I've been through three pagers and my one i have now was drowned and needs to be replaced but i'm scared to tell them i injuried another pager. Oh and I broke my butt falling down iced over stairs!


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## jester_1269 (Jul 3, 2007)

Well, the other week they put me in an unfamiliar ambulance, and sent me to an unfamiliar hospital for a transport. The truck was bigger than I was used to and I had to enter the ER bay at an awkward angle (thanks to another truck parked a bit weird). So I accidentally clipped the wall. To make a long story short, the "bang" turned into a "scrape" and the "scrape" turned into a "clang clang clang" as pieces of the truck started falling off. <_<   I was not happy.


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## BossyCow (Jul 3, 2007)

I remember having to back an unfamiliar rig into a similar place at 6am after an all night thrash.  The department engineer told me, "You'll be fine.  Just promise me, if you hit something, hit it *Slowly*!


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## gnh2276 (Jul 3, 2007)

I cant recall any thing that I have done to the equipment but have injured myself more then a few times which is why EMS is so great for me!!


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## fm_emt (Jul 5, 2007)

*Hmmm...*

I smashed a clipboard in the gurney a while back. It's still all dented up. 

Haven't crashed any of the rigs yet, but I do back them into shrubs all the time. We practically have to drive INTO A BUSH in order to get our rigs lined up in their parking spots properly. haha. 

And I was mad at something so I kicked an empty can in the dispatch office. It went flying across the room and whacked the thermostat. The AC was stuck on "Polar" all day.


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## gnh2276 (Jul 5, 2007)

I had some one push the streacher off the back of the bus before I released the lever that drops the legs and it was my wife on the streacher.


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## Anomalous (Jul 6, 2007)

Epi-do said:


> ...The only thing I can think of that I have done any damage to was the dog that I hit, and while it didn't hurt the bus, it was fatal for the dog...



It wasn't with an ambulance, but I managed to hit 7 deer at once.  

Score:  Locomotive- 7,  Deer- 0


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## babygirl2882 (Jul 6, 2007)

I have an awesome picture of a broom that I broke not once but TWICE!! lol first we gaft taped it and then we splinted it with a piece of wood....haha....
I have also broken countless things especially when I was put in a machine tech class last year (only one bit but i snapped countless projects on the lathe)


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## RescueShirts.com (Jul 11, 2007)

It was 17 years ago... but I remember it perfectly.

I was an EMT-Basic at the time, paramedic + nurse + cardiac patient were in the back.

I was coming off the freeway, one of those ramps that take to you a road underneath the overpass. I "should" have turned left directly into the left hand lane, instead I did one of those "turn left and merge into the middle lane at the same time" procedures.

My rig got sideswiped by another car.

Not much damage, and I was totally at fault.

HOWEVER, the guy who sideswiped me had no insurance, expired license, had been drinking, and had warrants out for his arrest. The cops basically grabbed him and sent us on our way.

I totally lucked out on that one!


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## firecoins (Jul 11, 2007)

RescueShirts.com said:


> It was 17 years ago... but I remember it perfectly.
> 
> I was an EMT-Basic at the time, paramedic + nurse + cardiac patient were in the back.
> 
> ...



did you get credit for the collar?


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## vic2u (Jul 11, 2007)

On my 1st day on our ambulance service, i had my pager for about 2 hours before i droped it in the toilet.it gets better, my cell phone fell between the bug shield and hood of rig and rode 20 miles to the hospital and 20 miles back to shed, fell off as my driver was backing up and ran over it. I have too hit our building(2 weeks after the fire dept had repainted it). needless to say that was 4 years ago and they just now let me drive again..oh the joys of our job.


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## 94accord (Jul 15, 2007)

Broke a copier once when a co worker threw a smoke bomb in the office for Halloween and I threw an O2 key back at him... missed him, hit the door, and landed on the glass of the open copier... that was a tough one to explain. Reminded me of those old commercials where they called the shot off of 10-15 different things... then "nothing but net" LOL

Destroyed a portable suction because the company refused to get the right parts for it and instructed me to jerry rig it, so I did. They wondered why it started to smoke when they plugged it in.... i had re-soldered the terminals inside and changed the polarity . last time they asked me to jerry rig my equipment.


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## Tincanfireman (Jul 15, 2007)

94accord said:


> Destroyed a portable suction because the company refused to get the right parts for it and instructed me to jerry rig it, so I did. They wondered why it started to smoke when they plugged it in.... i had re-soldered the terminals inside and changed the polarity . last time they asked me to jerry rig my equipment.


 
Nothing against you, but that could have been the best thing to happen to it. Could you imagine yourself on the stand, facing the attorney for the patient that died of an obstructed airway after aspirating his dinner? "Uh, no, I'm not trained in fixing that piece of equipment, but they told me to jerry-rig it, so I did. It was only after I used it for 10 seconds that it started smoking and quit working." If a supervisor tells you to do something like that, I'd think it would be a good time to find a different, known-good replacement...


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## airmedic_8 (Jul 16, 2007)

I had my paramedic certification for about two weeks when my partner and I were responding to a cardiac arrest in a rural area of Georgetown County, South Carolina.  It was approximately ten o’clock at night and very dark.  While traveling on a country two-lane highway, my partner said, “Marcus look at that herd of deer!”  I glanced towards my left and probably saw 30 to 40 deer in a field.  As I turned my head forward, my partner screamed, Marcus watch out!”  At that point, it was too late to react.  I struck a deer traveling at about 70mph.  The front end of the ambulance was demolished and the deer wasn’t in much better shape.  We advised our dispatch that we were involved in an accident and were out of service.  South Carolina state troopers stated that is was an unavoidable accident and I wasn’t at fault.  That made me feel somewhat better knowing it wasn’t my fault nonetheless, it was an embarrassing moment in my career.


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## 94accord (Jul 16, 2007)

Tincanfireman said:


> Nothing against you, but that could have been the best thing to happen to it. Could you imagine yourself on the stand, facing the attorney for the patient that died of an obstructed airway after aspirating his dinner? "Uh, no, I'm not trained in fixing that piece of equipment, but they told me to jerry-rig it, so I did. It was only after I used it for 10 seconds that it started smoking and quit working." If a supervisor tells you to do something like that, I'd think it would be a good time to find a different, known-good replacement...



i must have neglected to mention the part wher I intentionally destroyed it... I intended to have the thing do a meltdown so they would have no choice but to trash it and buy a new one like they should have done years prior. As soon as they plugged it in at the office it went up in smoke. Of course they did not know that, and I have left that company. I am with a new company that has all the right gear, just is not giving me enough hours so I am planning another move real soon.


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## OKmedic320 (Jul 17, 2007)

Ok,heres a funny one. One morning i noticed my unit wasnt running quite right,Later that shift we had an LDT of about 175 miles. About halfway there things got a little worse as the engine let go completely,....on the turnpike no doubt!!!! Ok,ready for the kicker? our Pt. was a 16 y/o pregnant girl who swore she was in labor. We had to call a service in the county we were in for our pt. and then got to sit and wait 3 hrs for a tow truck. the only thing my partner and i could do was look at each other and laugh.  Now at work everyone says we will do ANYTHING do get out of a transfer!!  LOL


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## 94accord (Jul 17, 2007)

now that you remind me, I had something similar, except my pt was not a pregnant lady, it was 62 y/o man going in for surgery. We get onto the interstate, transport was about a 45 mi trip. After a few min,  we notice our gas gage dropping... gets to empty, ambulance drops dead on the shoulder. We call  for one of our backup ambulances to take our pt for us. About 10 min after the pt is changed over, our engine catches on fire and we are on the side of the highway with 2 little extinguishers trying to keep the entire unit from going up. Apparently the company has had a previous record of ambulances burning to the ground while they were in a facility. I am just glad the fire did not get to the main which was right behind the driver seat lol.


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## BAMAMEDIC (Jul 17, 2007)

Southern linc radio, Lifepak 11, portable suction .... I could go on and on.:huh::wacko:


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## firecoins (Jul 17, 2007)

a patient...


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## BAMAMEDIC (Jul 17, 2007)

firecoins said:


> a patient...



Dislocated a shoulder on one but never broken.....that I know of.


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## firetender (Jul 18, 2007)

Big deal day. Head of Santa Barbara County EMS was doing one of her quarterly ride-alongs. Right when she showed up we had to scramble to get another rig, as our low-top had broken down. It was a great deal because the company had just gotten these brand new high-tops, and this was one of the first ones. After a good six hours constant running with us, all over the county, she, in the back was ready to call it a day.

We hadn't been back to our hospital base all day. Backing up into the ambulance bay at the hospital emergency room, I quickly leaned back and, looking her right in the eye I said, "Little bump here." figuring I was warning her that, being a New Yorker, I use the "touch system" of backing up and I would back up until the rear tires hit the concrete barrier in the parking space.

Next came a huge crash from the rear of the rig and our Official ride-along, leaning toward the doorway went flying off the bench in through it and then whiplashed back onto the floor, landing squarely on her butt.

Did I mention that even though the company had just gotten some new high-tops, they still hadn't raised the Emergency Room sign over the ambulance bay at the hospital?


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## Insurman (Jul 18, 2007)

firetender said:


> Big deal day. Head of Santa Barbara County EMS was doing one of her quarterly ride-alongs. Right when she showed up we had to scramble to get another rig, as our low-top had broken down. It was a great deal because the company had just gotten these brand new high-tops, and this was one of the first ones. After a good six hours constant running with us, all over the county, she, in the back was ready to call it a day.
> 
> We hadn't been back to our hospital base all day. Backing up into the ambulance bay at the hospital emergency room, I quickly leaned back and, looking her right in the eye I said, "Little bump here." figuring I was warning her that, being a New Yorker, I use the "touch system" of backing up and I would back up until the rear tires hit the concrete barrier in the parking space.
> 
> ...




haha... whoops...


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## BossyCow (Jul 18, 2007)

Hubby's firestation had some 'issues' with the lights on the trucks and the automatic door openers..... Only three or four times of replacing light bars before the city fixed the doors.


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## Grady_emt (Jul 21, 2007)

Driving at night after a bad storm with no streetlights cause the power was out, ripped the lightbar off the truck with some downed lines.

Killed a bird with the windshield while driving

Managed to roll over a nail while trying to block 6 lanes of interstate being the first onscene of an entrapment causing a flat while awaiting extrication.

Several personal Nextels been dropped and broken, but the company one never dies ever.

And did you know that LifePack12s seem to be allergic to falls down a flight of steps?


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## babygirl2882 (Jul 21, 2007)

firecoins said:


> a patient...


and how did u do that?  :glare: lol



firetender said:


> Big deal day. Head of Santa Barbara County EMS was doing one of her quarterly ride-alongs. Right when she showed up we had to scramble to get another rig, as our low-top had broken down. It was a great deal because the company had just gotten these brand new high-tops, and this was one of the first ones. After a good six hours constant running with us, all over the county, she, in the back was ready to call it a day.
> 
> We hadn't been back to our hospital base all day. Backing up into the ambulance bay at the hospital emergency room, I quickly leaned back and, looking her right in the eye I said, "Little bump here." figuring I was warning her that, being a New Yorker, I use the "touch system" of backing up and I would back up until the rear tires hit the concrete barrier in the parking space.
> 
> ...


 
See seatbelts save everyone


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