EMT Drivers using GPS Navigators

Your right, the only problem is that the company needs to update the units.

At my place one of the major roads isnt on the GPS as it is too "new"

We have the same problem. Apparently when the genius that came up with the idea came up with the idea, she didn't do enough research to find out that the units are supposed to be updated. Ideally that's annually, but for Garmin, the coast is enough that you can buy a new unit every other year for the cost of two updates. A bunch of us in the field suggested just putting the software on existing mobile computers, but that was just tooooooo simple.

Besides, she's cute and I'm not, so they liked her idea better. ;)
 
We're still working on getting laptops in the trucks (going on 3 years), but all of our trucks used to be/are mobile hotspots. Only problem is the company locked the internet because they felt they were paying too much.

It used to be a breeze to just google map your way to a call and probably cheaper then the GPS (taking into account all the "professional" mounting and such)

The mounting reminded me, we have them put in horrible places where you actually need to take your eyes off the road to look at them (another genius idea)
 
I absolutely hate our Garmin. It knows nothing. I use it to get me in the DIRECTION and the real time map on it, and thats about it. I need to get a map of the county and start mapping the locations myself, but the problem is our county is so vast, some streets I would have a hard time finding quickly on a map.
 
Garmin is the best. It allows you to compare the closest hospitals.
 
Garmin GPS units are the best...
 
I agree with Akula's advice. I bet doing that will also prevent you from becoming overly dependent on the GPS and help you learn how to use the maps.

I'd also suggest learning as much about how the streets are laid out in your area as you can. Most places are set up on some sort of grid, and if you learn more about how the streets are numbered, named and such, you can start cracking the code and find where you're going much more easily.

Using this system I can easily find many locations without even looking at a map or anything like that. For example, around here we have a hundred-block system. A grocery store is located at 655 N. Main St. I know that the hundred-block for Main St. is 12100 E, meaning it is 121 blocks East of the 000 block, which is like the Y axis.

The address of the grocery store tells me where it is located on Example St... 655 means it's between 6-7 blocks North of the other 000 street, the X axis. I know that the 600 block is Something Ave, and that the 700 block is Example Ave. So I know that 655 N. Main St. is located on Main St. between Example and Something.

Since I have all of the major streets and their corresponding hundred blocks memorized, I also know where all of these streets are in relation to a single central location. Our city also follows NOW SEE rule - Odd numbered addresses are located on either the North or West side of the street (depending on which direction it runs) and Even addresses are on the the South or East side. 655 N. Main St. must be located on the West side since the street runs North/South.

Of course, this may not be how your city is set up, and there are always exceptions to the rules: roads that don't run through, crazy curvy roads and such. But most cities have some sort of rhyme or reason that can help you predict where an address or intersection will be. My suggestion would be to ask around and see if any of your coworkers are aware of such a system. I've also found that cops tend to be great resources for this kind of stuff, since they tend to be out on the street more than EMS or Fire and usually have excellent knowledge of local geography.

I absolutely hate our Garmin. It knows nothing. I use it to get me in the DIRECTION and the real time map on it, and thats about it. I need to get a map of the county and start mapping the locations myself, but the problem is our county is so vast, some streets I would have a hard time finding quickly on a map.

I posted in your other thread, but what Lucid said here is what I meant to fully explain to you. You can't know every street, but if you intentionally study your map and learn the patterns, you will find the streets easier.

Is there an ADC mapbook of your area? I find those to be the easiest maps in the world to use. I love when dispatch uses those and dispatches with the map grid in an ADC book. Very much easier than any other map I've used.

And FTR, I turn the GPS off at the start of shift and never use it. The time spent entering the address into the gps could be spent using the map to make a plan, and once you develop your map skills, the map is much more reliable.
 
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Yes, I'm a newer EMT using a GPS all the freaking time.

Do I get crap from my coworkers about it? Yep, sure do. Plenty of "You should know the streets better" and the occasional "You DON'T know how to get there?"

The inverse though...

Have I ever had to ask dispatch for a cross street, nearby intersection or landmark? Nope. Have I ever had to have dispatch verify the address number because I forgot it? Nope. Have I ever shown up at the wrong end of a major street because I wasn't sure which end an address was on? Nope.

There's pros and cons. I've definately been in the passenger seat, and if I didn't plug the address into my GPS, we would have taken a very very wrong direction from a partner that "Knew where he was going"

On a side note, on the whole main roads vs side roads/shortcuts, when I'm driving a slightly larger than normal vehicle, I'd rather stick to larger main roads whenever possible. Easier for traffic to get out of the way/pull around people, and even in worse traffic, less chance of the road being plugged off entirely.
 
Local knowledge beats a map or a GPS hands down 100:1

The Auckland metroplex is one of the worlds largest cities by land area in that it is all one proper jurisdiction and its impossible to know it all. Gosh I feel sorry for the relief pool of Officers who get shunted all over the metro stations with no clue where they are!
 
I think they re great, now if I could only get that chick in the GPS to drive we would be on to something. :D
 
Local knowledge beats a map or a GPS hands down 100:1

!

That great if you do 911 in an area you know. If you do IFT over a larger are, there is no such thing as local knowledge.
 
That great if you do 911 in an area you know. If you do IFT over a larger are, there is no such thing as local knowledge.

I'd disagree with that. After working a few months I knew the freeway system like the back of my hand, where 95% of the posting spots, dialysis clinics, hospitals, and nursing homes were that we regularly went to. The majority of the remaining 5% could be jogged out of my memory just by seeing the map page that they were on.
 
I'd disagree with that. After working a few months I knew the freeway system like the back of my hand, where 95% of the posting spots, dialysis clinics, hospitals, and nursing homes were that we regularly went to. The majority of the remaining 5% could be jogged out of my memory just by seeing the map page that they were on.

... I do IFT the square mileage of 2 states.

Not as easy for me ^_^


Granted I know the major hospitals, and how to get to one from the other, but that's about it. When it comes to an emergency call, my EMT is driving and I'm in the back so I don't have much of a chance of seeing what's where ;)
 
I prefer an old school map book. Now our map pages are in the computer. I use it to get a general idea of where we are going, then reference it as we get closer. But GPS directions can be unreliable and can be slow to keep up with our quick pace.
 
i use my personal gps at my ift job, pretty reliable except it tried to have go into dead ends afew times., i also remembered how to get to and from some places without it too.
 
I'd disagree with that. After working a few months I knew the freeway system like the back of my hand, where 95% of the posting spots, dialysis clinics, hospitals, and nursing homes were that we regularly went to. The majority of the remaining 5% could be jogged out of my memory just by seeing the map page that they were on.

Unfortunatly I do not have the back of your hand with me or anything like it. I respond to too many places to remember them all.

Major highways are fine for me w/o the GPS for getting from town to town but local roads always kill me.
 
Two Words: Google Maps!!!!

Best of both worlds, You get the Map Book view, with Gps tracking, i use it all the time, after a while i start to learn the area.

plus it has traffic updates, and here in SoCal, traffic tends to be a problem, so i can find alternate routes using the map

my only gripe about Google Maps is it dosnt really show clearly the on/off ramps of freeways as the thomas guide does
 
I think the Marvlis mapping system works pretty well. It runs on the Toughbooks, so you get a very large overhead map view like you are looking at an actual map, and it can simply guide you, follow you along, or you can just look at the route it gives and do your own thing.
 
I work in small 12000 habitants town, so all the nursing homes etc. are really easy to learn in few days without any maps or so.

Problem lies in huge area those 12000 people are scattered to. There are lots of roads that you cant find from maps, they may even have no official address.

Local knowledge is the best way to find there, second best thing is to ask proper instructions, use google maps before leaving and follow map while going. Few minutes or so lost in the beginning aren´t that bad when you at least know where you´re going.
 
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