GPS on the Ambulance

We have GPS on our trucks here, built into our onboard computer, (Panasonic Toughbook). It tracks us for dispatch and marks where the call is. It is quite reliable but occasionaly doesn't work. All trucks have a detailed map book but we find the best backup is a friend at the other end of the radio. A few simple directions using local landmarks and we're usually good to go. Nothing beats local knowledge.
 
even when GPS doesn't work, it gets us really close to the call location. We figure it on our own than.
 
I use my own GPS, but only for things such as long distance transfers and emergencies in areas that I am not fully familiar with. It is a good tool to have, but I only use it when I need to.
 
I like many others have my own Gamin nuvi 350 that travels ever where I go. I work for to services in the area, one is trying to load all there trucks up with them (They have 33 trucks) and the other wants to by them. We find better to waste 30 seconds to punch it in the GPS rather than waste the time by missing a street or getting lost.
I would say you can go wrong with them we all have direction books but nothing works better than a GPS. B)
 
Pittsburgh Proud said:
I like many others have my own Gamin nuvi 350 that travels ever where I go. I work for to services in the area, one is trying to load all there trucks up with them (They have 33 trucks) and the other wants to by them. We find better to waste 30 seconds to punch it in the GPS rather than waste the time by missing a street or getting lost.
I would say you can go wrong with them we all have direction books but nothing works better than a GPS. B)
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So if I'm not breathing, then I have to wait another 30 seconds so you can play with your GPS? I don't think so my friend! What is so hard about actually learning your district and learning to read a map? I've done it for over 15 years and have never gotten lost nor missed a street. What happens when the next major catastrophe occurs and satellite coverage is lost? I CAN happen, given time it probably will. Or, even more likely, what if you lose 12V DC power to your GPS unit? Sorry, there is no excuse for a delay in response to play with a GPS nor is it acceptable to blame the GPS when it doesn't work..................
 
At the new job, we've got GPS units (Garmin brand) permanently installed in EVERY rig (all ambulaces, medic cars, etc). I love it... I'm somewhat new to the area, and it is easy to just punch in the address and roll... as I get used to the territory, I'm not using it AS MUCH for hospital transports, etc... but it is a nice resource to have.

At the vollie squad, our MDC's have Microsoft Streets and Trips and a GPS antenna, and that works OK for us.

I know how to read a mapbook and still keep one handy... the GPS is just easier to use while driving.

At the paid transport squad, a lot of the full timers have portable GPS systems (even the ones that don't own their own cars!). The GPS makes trying to find the best route from Point A to Point C simple, and prevents us from trying to double-back to an area we are familiar with.
 
Flight-LP said:
So if I'm not breathing, then I have to wait another 30 seconds so you can play with your GPS? I don't think so my friend! What is so hard about actually learning your district and learning to read a map? I've done it for over 15 years and have never gotten lost nor missed a street. What happens when the next major catastrophe occurs and satellite coverage is lost? I CAN happen, given time it probably will. Or, even more likely, what if you lose 12V DC power to your GPS unit? Sorry, there is no excuse for a delay in response to play with a GPS nor is it acceptable to blame the GPS when it doesn't work..................
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Let me put it this way the company I work for has 11 stations and you can't know all the area's well. I pretty good and when I don't I said there are map books in ever truck but there are two of us. one can start out while the other puts in where we are heading or reads the maps book to refresh our memory.
To each there own. I didn't mean to imply we are sitting doing nothing waiting for a gps to come in but we are already enroute.
 
the lame thing is GPS units arent really industry standard or you ahve to get one yourself. Around here none of the ambulances use GPS, they still use the old fashion Thomas guides. and most of there coverage area is way to big to know it by heart. And i know on many occations that ambulances get lost on ways to calls (GPS would be nice to tell you where you are). Well the san mateo county contract is up next year and i know they are setting that whoever gets the contract has GPS navigation in all of their rigs.
 
We have the Ranger AVL's. They use GPS and Automatically bring up the map, when dispatch sends the call through. They are nice to start rolling on a call, in the right direction. We also have mapping in the toughbooks and map books. We always double check the directions on them. The AVL has cut up to a minute off of response times.

I don't care who you are, no one knows every street in town, unless it is a small town.

It is arrogant to say that you have never been lost or missed a street. Every one has before. Maps are wrong all the time. If you know all the streets by heart, then you don't live in a city! IMHO.
 
I was told just last night that all my units' toughbooks are being reprogrammed on Wednesday to include the latest mapping software and maps for the county. At the same time they are enabling our AVL and AVR software so not only will we be getting directions automagically when we get dispatched but we will also start getting dispatched based on which unit is closer. Should be interesting to see how this works. Perhaps my unit will actually get some calls when we go out shopping outside of our first due. Ive received 8 calls this year now.

I think PD rolled this out a month or 2 ago for their cruisers. They are the priority department in the county...I think it is great in this case because the major bugs will hopefully be ironed out before it gets to us.
 
we have no such thing at the current time. however, we are "supposedly" getting a new computer system in all of our rigs, with the Toughbooks that have buit in navigation. We tired this a while ago as an expiriment on a couple rigs, and this is what ensued (keep in mind i live/work in Buffalo, NY):
dispatch: "575, whats your current location?"
575: "Mian and the 198 post"
dispatch: "uhh are you sure?"
575: "well, we're starting at the back of sister's of mercy, where else would we be?"
dispatch: "oh ok. well, according to the GPS, we have you in the middle of lake erie right now"

so yeah we have some bugs to work out, but hopefully we get them sooner than later. our dispatch is pretty good about giving us major cross streets and some landmarks when they give out calls, so as long as u know the main roads in the city, you're usually pretty good. I don;t know the city well at all yet and dispatch is always really helpful and I havent gotten lost yet.
 
Flight-LP said:
So if I'm not breathing, then I have to wait another 30 seconds so you can play with your GPS? I don't think so my friend! What is so hard about actually learning your district and learning to read a map? I've done it for over 15 years and have never gotten lost nor missed a street. What happens when the next major catastrophe occurs and satellite coverage is lost? I CAN happen, given time it probably will. Or, even more likely, what if you lose 12V DC power to your GPS unit? Sorry, there is no excuse for a delay in response to play with a GPS nor is it acceptable to blame the GPS when it doesn't work..................
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LP.... My volunteer service has an extensive driver precepting program, requiring drivers to have a decent grasp of our first-run territory (this means we need to know the main cross streets / grid of the town, as well as most of the major and/or busy roads within our territory)... we can't always know where EVERY call is, so we use mapbooks, as well as the GPS-equipped laptops to help us find where the street is exactly, even though we usually have a general route of travel with the basic dispatch address.

At the paid company, I'm slowly learning the first run territory as we go. Every day I learn something new... new side streets, new route to hospital, etc. I find the GPS is faster than trying to read a mapbook, and it means I don't have to pull over and check the mapbook... I can glance at the GPS and see the map.
 
i dunno ab out delays from GPS but i always seem to find the using GPS is faster than trying to flip through the pages of a map book.
 
Well if your only using one map i find that i have an easier time finding the street on the key and going to that coordinate. Our maps have the block numbers on them, plus if you follow the route specified by a GPS, there may be a quicker side street that you miss. But thats just my preference to do old fashioned nav.
 
If I'm working alone, a GPS can be of extreme value. It's also nice to have a map book at hand all times.

If that GPS starts "recalculating"..."recalculating"... I can throw it out of the window. lol
 
paramedix said:
If I'm working alone, a GPS can be of extreme value. It's also nice to have a map book at hand all times.

If that GPS starts "recalculating"..."recalculating"... I can throw it out of the window. lol
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Mine if you miss a turn that's when it starts with the "recalculating" Just what I need another machine in the world with an addition.
 
I think that all ambulances should have a computer like what is in a police vehicle. That way you have a GPS but you also have extra items. For example dispatch can send you all the info they were able to get from the caller. Also dispatch would know your location. So if you was to need help they would know your location. Plus it would be able to send important info to the ER.
 
emtbhardy said:
I think that all ambulances should have a computer like what is in a police vehicle. That way you have a GPS but you also have extra items. For example dispatch can send you all the info they were able to get from the caller. Also dispatch would know your location. So if you was to need help they would know your location. Plus it would be able to send important info to the ER.
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Many agencies around me have these systems for 911 dispatch, EMS, FD, and PD. We don't use them to talk with the ED's... but we do use them to get dispatch info and map the calls... and I love 'em!
 
GPS is a great asset that is just an added bonus to navigation. I feel it's important for the user to not rely on it as a crutch, as a map and personal knowledge of the area are key. Unfortunately not everyone is fortunate enough to know every corner in their coverage area, I live in my district and certainly don't know every address or street, so GPS in addition to the map are great help. As far as "old-timers" go, it sounds "cool" to talk like that, lol, but there is absolutely nothing in the world wrong with progress.
 
We

do indeed have GPS on our ambulance, but most of the people that ride do know the area very well. the only times i do see it being used is when we go mutual aid or were really lost!!
 
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