# Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of... What?



## curt (Oct 10, 2010)

So I was working overtime not too long back on the supervisor truck for Coweta County EMS. We had gone up to the hospital and were getting some drugs replaced when tones dropped for Medic 1 to respond to a golf cart vs. a boat. Me and the supervisor exchanged looks and he said "You know we're going to that, right?" I declared my approval with a huge grin and said "I was hoping you'd say that." 

 So we get our drugs, head out to the truck, inform 911 that we'll also be responding to the scene L/S. About the time we get a street away, 911 advises that the caller advises the patient has left the scene in his golf cart. We roll up on the scene about 30s-1m later, and find a bunch of bumfazzled folks standing at the roadside near a boat on a trailer parked in the roadway. We roll down the windows, asked if this was the boat that got hit, and they say yes. I hop out to do a quick scene assessment and find some blood and some meat on one of the propeller blades, but that's about it. The bystanders tell us that the man that hit the boat was bleeding, but wasn't too concerned about it, asked if the boat and everyone there was okay, and when everyone denied damage, he just pulled his golf cart off of the propeller and drove off down the road. So we take his last known direction of travel, jump in the truck, and take off after him. About this time, 911 starts giving us updates as to what streets that he's turned onto, because apparently FD saw him and is trying to catch up. Bear in mind, this is in a subdivision and the roads are poorly marked on the street and map level. So while I'm staring lasers into the mapbook trying to figure out how to get to him, the supervisor is taking hints from bystanders that saw him go by and trying to figure out the streets here. There's a LEO behind us who seems to be just as lost as we are, since he's specifically following us. Well, about this time, we hear medic one come over the radio with the following traffic.

M1: "Medic one, 911."
911: "Go ahead"
M1: "Be advised, we're going to be in pursuit of a golf cart."
911: *suppressing laughter* "10-4, medic one in pursuit of golf cart"

 So me and the supervisor were hanging out the windows of the bus, having to slow down because we're laughing so hard. Anyway, Medic one and FD finally pulled the guy over (imagine a fire truck, which was in line before medic one, in hot pursuit of this cart, begging him to pull over by PA), and come to find out, he'd rammed into the propeller at about 20 mph with his golf cart, caused the steering wheel to deform on the cart, and had quite nearly sliced off his right index finger- it was hanging on by a piece of skin, really. This old vet didn't want to bother the hospital with this small problem, and after medic one finally convincing him to go, he insisted that they not get the stretcher out for him or else he wouldn't go. They transported him to Newnan, where he was stitched up and released before Medic one even cleared the hospital.

 So we're still waiting on word from the higher-ups if the pit maneuver is going to be in our new protocols. Anyone else have any pursuit stories?


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## Jackson (Oct 10, 2010)

curt said:


> .
> 
> M1: "Medic one, 911."
> 911: "Go ahead"
> ...



I literally laughed out loud! XD


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## Lifeguards For Life (Oct 10, 2010)

curt said:


> Well, about this time, we hear medic one come over the radio with the following traffic.



don't you love when patients clear the hospital before you do. I have had patients accept treatment and transport (Willingly, we did not have to talk them into it), tell the nurse as soon as we leave the room that they don't want to be here and wish to sign out AMA.<_<

They wave nicely as they walk by as I stand at the nurses station getting my papers signed<_<


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## traumaqueen5 (Oct 16, 2010)

my favorite thing is getting paged out at about 0100 to a nursing home for lets say... difficulty breathing... arrive on scene, get your gear out ready to head in and a staff member comes out and informs you that the pt has already left.... did you not think to inform dispatch that we were no longer needed? its not like we were an hour away... im thinkin we got on scene in about 5 minutes... but thankfully we havent had to pursue a golf cart or anything else like that... but now that i say that... it is friday night and im on duty..............................


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## SanDiegoEmt7 (Oct 16, 2010)

My story isn't nearly as hilarious as your story (I just got caught chuckling at my computer screen).

It was super late at night, about 18 hours straight into a 24 hour shift.  We are on a textbook IFT, hospital to SNF, transport fighting to stay awake.  While sitting at a red light on a desolate intersection, the entire rig bounces forward.  My partner's "what the F#*@" carries back to me.  I scoot down the bench and peer out the window to see a nice, little lady nonchalantly staring straight back at me, seemingly unaware her SUV's bumper is on top of ours.

Hmmm, ok.

So when the light finally turns green we pull through the intersection and off to the right shoulder.  To my partner's and my amazement she continues on.  So my partner pulls out after her.  If she's making a hit-and-run attempt she's failing horrible with her 25MPH escape.  After a block or two, me and my sleep deprived partner had done all the following we wanted to and flashed our lights. (against policy, but the streets were empty)

I stayed with the patient while my partner talked to her.  Turned out it was an RN that had just gotten off an overtime shift, still in scrubs, half asleep, didn't remember hitting us or didn't want believe it.  Either way damage was non-existent, but we took her info anyhow and finished the call.  The next morning the whole thing felt like a dream.

Our dispatcher had quite good time telling everyone how we were pulling expanding into traffic law enforcement.


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## akflightmedic (Oct 16, 2010)

Good story, in the future...do not state where you work, which facility you tx to and please limit patient information. Lesser things have come back to bite people in the butt!


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## skivail (Oct 17, 2010)

akflightmedic said:


> Good story, in the future...do not state where you work, which facility you tx to and please limit patient information. Lesser things have come back to bite people in the butt!



Seconded


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## FrostbiteMedic (Oct 20, 2010)

This aint the same AKflightmedic that used to be over on the "other" emt website is it? If so, this is capemt.


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